Blue Skye's Story
by ST477
Summary: My OC, a Pegasus pony named Blue Skye goes through life's ups and downs with his friends.
1. The Early Life

January 22, 1988

It was a normal winter's day in Equestria. The flying metropolis of Cloudsdale generated multiple cold fronts which stored snow clouds in them and sent them across Equestria. One of the ponies producing this weather was a yellow stallion with a purple mane, named Lightning Fast. Lightning Fast has a wife, Summer Skies, who worked as a weather pony as well, along with her older brother Crested Cloud. Skies was in her eleventh month of pregnancy and so was unable to create or manipulate the weather systems, so she was replaced by her brother.

That same day, Lightning got home from work.

"Honey, I'm home!" he said in a loud voice as he came into their house.

A light blue pegasus mare with a yellow-white mane managed to walk to Lightning Fast, who nuzzled her.

"Hi honey, how was your day?" Summer Skies asked.

"It was nothing special, really. Just another average day at work..." Lightning replied.

"Are you hungry? I made your favorite; hay fries and lettuce-and-tomato salad." Summer Skies asked Lightning.

"Summer, you shouldn't have done that. You're pregnant. You deserve your rest." Lightning replied, nuzzling her.

"I know. But I still wanted to at least do something for you, Lighty." she smiled. 'Lighty' was and is Lightning Fast's nickname amongst his friends and his family.

"Thank you, Summer Skies. I appreciate your help. I really do." he told her. After eating the hay fries, Summer Skies begun to feel slight cramps in her abdominal region.

"Honey, I'm not feeling too well." she told Lightning, who was typing up a business report on his home computer.

"Is everything alright, dear?" Lightning asked his wife.

"I'm fine, I'm just feeling a little bit... stuffed." she replies.

"AAAHH!" she screamed as a sharp pain filled her abdomen. "THE FOAL'S COMING" she screamed. Lightning was quick to react. He grabbed his wife and flew her over to the Cloudsdale Hospital.

It was a fairly short labor which lasted almost 5 hours. By that time, the entire ward was quiet. The foal was born. Summer Skies looked down at her foal, smiling. She snuggled the foal and allowed it to sleep. Meanwhile, in the hospital's lobby, Lightning Fast was waiting patiently for the foal to arrive. His thinking was interrupted by the hospital announcer's voice.

"Attention, may Mr. Lightning Fast go to the Maternity Ward Room 150?" the hospital announcer boomed through the loudspeakers.

Lightning Fast did as he was asked to and hopped into an elevator which took him to floor 12, where the Maternity Ward was located. After locating Room 150, Lightning was overjoyed to see Summer Skies with their new foal.

"Congratulations, Mr. Fast. It's a colt!" the head doctor spoke up.

The colt was fast asleep and was unaware of what was going on. He had his mother's light blue fur and a dark blue mane. Summer Skies spoke up to her husband.

"So, what do you think?" she asked, smiling.

"He's absolutely perfect." Lightning said as he proudly looked down on his wife and his newborn son.

"He's beautiful." Summer Skies said as she nuzzled the little colt on the head. The new family's tender moment was interrupted by a nurse.

"One more thing. What do you want your colt to be called?" she asked.

"I'd like to name him Blue Skye." Summer said.

"I agree. That name really does suit him." Lightning Fast replied.

"It kind of has a nice ring to it." the nurse said and smiled and proceeded to write down his name and birth details on the notepad.

"Welcome to the world, Blue." Summer said, smiling down at her foal.

5 years later...  
It was a nice fall day in Cloudsdale, and while very little ponies knew, winter was coming rapidly. In fact, the winter of 1993 was one of the worst winters in Cloudsdale's history, with temperatures plunging to a then-record breaking low of -70 degrees. Lightning Fast, being one of the most experienced flyers on the weather team, took Blue down to a meadow near Ponyville, a small town several miles from Cloudsdale to practice his flying skills.

"What are we going to do today, daddy?" Blue asked his dad as the autumn wind blew across the meadow, making his voice a bit muffled.

"Son, I thought I'd teach you how to fly today." Lightning shouted.

"Okay, daddy." Blue replied. Lightning then positioned Blue where he wanted him standing.

"Son, when I say "go", I want you to trot down this meadow, let's say, up to that tree." he said, pointing to a tree which stood about 50 feet away from them. "Then, I want you to flap your wings. Got it?"

"Yeah!" Blue was excited. He was finally learning how to fly.

"Alright son, go!" Lightning shouted to his young son. Blue did as his father asked of him. He begun to trot down the meadow and flapped his wings as he neared the tree. Blue begun to pull up slightly.

"Look, daddy. I'm flying!" he said proudly, before he dropped down.

"Aww..." the young colt groaned after landing on the grass.

"Well done, son! That was great work!" Lightning said to his son as he ran over to him.

"No it wasn't! I never flew high, daddy." Blue sadly remarked.

"Son, you did great. It doesn't matter how high you fly." Lightning praised him.

"You really think so, daddy?" Blue asked.

"I know so, son. I know so." Lightning said as he hugged him.

"Can I do some more practice?" Blue asked.

"Sure, little guy! I'm sure mom would like to know what we did today!" Lightning told his son.

"You remember how to fly, buddy?" he asked. Blue thought for a second.

"No, not really..." he said. Lightning came over and showed him how to do it.

"Alright, little guy. I want you to trot down this meadow and then flutter your wings. Okay?" Lightning asked him.

"Sure thing, dad!" Blue replied and prepared himself for takeoff again. This time, he got an inch or so higher than before.

"Dad! I flew higher! I flew higher!" Blue shouted with glee as he ran up to his father.

"That's great, Blue! You want to do some more practice?" he asked.

"No thanks. I'm tired." Blue said.

"Alright, son. We're going home." Lightning told his son and he flew them both up to Cloudsdale. After explaining to Summer Skies about what Blue done, Summer hugged Blue and told him that she's proud. Lightning Fast also hugged Blue. A few hours later, Blue was tucked into bed by the two proud parents.


	2. School Days

August 19, 1994

Blue was a six-year old pegasus who was reaching a milestone in life; he would be starting Cloudsdale Elementary School. He was flown over to the school by Summer Skies.

"Mom?" Blue asked.

"What is it, honey?" she asked him.

"I'm nervous." he replied. "I don't know if I'll do good or if I'll do bad or if I'll make any friends." he said.

"Blue, you'll do just great. I know you will. Me and dad are so proud of you for reaching this stage in life." Summer comforted him.

"Oh, looks like we've reached the school." she said. Blue looked down and saw the schoolhouse. It was quite a large building, with a fountain standing at it's foot. After landing, his mother kissed his head before he went.

"Bye, honey! Have a good day at school! Love you!" she shouted at the little pegasus colt.

"See ya, mom!" he replied. Summer smiled at him one last time before she flew off to the Weather Factory.

Blue made his way through the school towards his classroom. The school bell hasn't rang yet, meaning he had some time left to gt to his class. After reaching the class, he sat down on a table between a colt and a filly. The colt was a grey pegasus with a black mane and the filly was a violet pegasus with a pink mane.

"Uh, mind if I sit here?" he asked.

"No, no. It's fine." they said.

"My name is Thunder." the colt spoke up. "What's yours?" he asked.

"I'm Blue Skye." Blue replied.

"Hi, I'm Violet... Violet Petals." the filly said. Blue realized she was shy and needed a friend and was about to talk to her. Suddenly, before the three ponies managed to talk to each-other, the teacher came in. She was a middle aged pegasus mare with a grey coat and a blonde-white mane.

"Hello, my little ponies. My name is Ms. Nymbus. Today, we're all going to introduce ourselves and have fun before our actual work begins when we return after the weekend. We'll start with the first table. Flash Sentry, why don't you go first?" the teacher asked. An orange colt with a dark blue mane stood up and walked to the front of the classroom. Blue chuckled to himself as he watched the awkward colt introduce himself. Violet lightly nudged him.

"Hey, I don't think you should be laughing. Would you like it if you went up there and we all started laughing at you?" she whispered to Blue with a firm voice.

"No, sorry." Blue whispered back with a hint of regret in his voice. After the teacher was done with Flash Sentry, she called out Violet. Blue eyed her as she moved up to the front of the classroom. He usually laughed at shy and awkward fillies and colts, but in this case, he felt sorry for Violet because she was so shy.

After Violet introduced herself, the teacher called up another colt. She returned to her seat and watched the colt speak. Blue and Thunder were eyeing the colt with curiosity.

"Hey, Thunder. Who's he?" Blue asked Thunder, while pointing at the awkward colt who called himself Singer.

"I don't know, Blue. I've never seen him before in Cloudsdale. He might have moved here recently." Thunder explained. Blue simply shrugged and watched Singer introduce himself. When the colt was finished, Blue chuckled lightly at the last part of his introduction. He too was sent back and sat down beside Violet. The teacher sent him back and called for Blue Skye.

Blue stood up and went to the front of the classroom. "Hi, my name is Blue Skye. I've lived in Cloudsdale all my life with my mom and my dad, who are both weather ponies. I love to have fun and watch the Wonderbolts live when they perform in Cloudsdale." he explained with pride. The colts and fillies eyed him with delight at the last part of his comment. After telling the class about himself, Blue was also sent back and sat down beside Thunder. After introductions were done, the ponies had the opportunity to go play some games with each other. Blue Skye and Thunder stuck together.

"Ms. Nymbus?" Thunder said, getting the attention of the teacher.

"What is it, Thunder?" Ms. Nymbus asked.

"Everypony else took all the games. Me and Blue don't have anything to play with." he said.

"Thunder, you and Blue can play together." Ms. Nymbus explained.

"Yeah... I just realized that." Thunder explained. "Sorry for bothering you."

"It's fine, Thunder. You weren't bothering me." Ms. Nymbus told him in her usual soothing and motherly tone. "Have fun you two." she smiled and went back to her desk.

"Okay, what do we play?" asked Blue. Thunder wondered for a few moments.

"I know! We should play hide n' seek!" he told him. Blue liked the idea, but he realized that there aren't enough ponies for the game.

"Uh, Thunder. I don't think there's enough of us to play hide n' seek..." Blue told him.

"Blue, you do know that we can play hide n' seek, just us two?" Thunder said and nudged him playfully.

"Okay... Let's play then." Blue grinned. "Just one thing." Thunder turned to face his friend.

"What is it, Blue?" Thunder asked him.

"Who's seeking? Me or you?" Blue asked in a playful tone. Thunder thought to himself.

"I think... it should be me!" Thunder said. Blue smiled and nodded in agreement. "Okay, go hide somewhere, Blue."

"Alright." Blue said in reply. And so, he went to find a place to hide while Thunder counted to ten. Blue hid behind some curtains and hoped Thunder would never find him. He eyed him through an opening between the two curtains and giggled to himself as he watched his friend look around the classroom for him. Thunder was completely clueless as to where Blue is, until he heard a sound. Blue's giggling got the better of him and the entire class could hear some light giggling coming from behind the curtains. Thunder flew towards the source of the giggling and pulled away the curtains, giving away Blue's location.

"Found you!" he said as he looked at his friend with pride.

"Aw... I thought that the curtains were a good place to hide in." Blue replied.

"They are, but your giggling gave away that you're hiding there." Thunder replied, playfully nudging him again. "And now... you're seeking." Thunder said, grinning.

"Okay." Blue grinned. He stood in front of the curtains, covered his eyes and begun to count. Meanwhile, Thunder flew around the room in search of a hiding place. Eventually, he found an empty cupboard where he could hide in. Blue finished counting shortly after and begun to search the classroom for his hiding friend. This time, it was Thunder's turn to laugh as his friend searched the entire room for him. After their game of hide n' seek, the two colts were bored. They sat down at their desk and waited for the next part of the lesson to begin.

"You know, Blue..." Thunder begun. "I'm enjoying your company!"

"Me too!" Blue grinned. "You're cool to hang out with. Say... wanna be best buddies for life?" he asked.

"Sure, I'd love to be your best buddy for life!" Thunder replied.

"Best Buddies Forever!" the two colts said in unison and they hoofed each other's hooves.

Nearer the end of the day, the class were finding out about their special talents. The first pony to do something was Singer. He prepared to sing a song he wrote for Violet Petals, his friend. As he prepared to sing, Blue whispered to Thunder.

"He wrote a song about Violet?" Blue chuckled lightly.

"Gosh, the two of them must be in love!" Thunder replied, also laughing. As Singer started singing, the entire class went silent, including Blue and Thunder. Blue turned his attention to Violet, who was looking at Singer, grinning. He and Thunder chuckled lightly at her so they didn't disturb Singer. However, Violet turned to face them with a stern look, which quietened down Blue and Thunder. The two colts returned to their original positions and observed Singer. A moment later he stopped singing and the entire class, except Blue and Thunder begun to clap. Instead, they chuckled lightly as they watched him go back to his seat.

"Gosh, that was so cheesy!" Blue laughed.

"Yeah, that was soo rrromantic." Thunder replied and made a mock Violet face to Blue. Their laughter was cut short however when Thunder begun to face a mark on Singer's flank. His cutie mark.

"Blue... Look." Thunder said. Blue turned to face Singer's flank and both colts' jaws dropped.

"He got his cutie mark..." Blue said in disgust.

"Yep." was all Thunder could say. Blue was having none of it.

"I'm gonna get a better mark than Singer will ever have!" Blue said to Thunder.

"Good luck then." Thunder replied and they shook eachother's hooves. The next pony on Ms. Nymbus' random list was Blue.

"Blue, do you want to come up?" Ms. Nymbus asked him.

"Okay." was all Blue managed to say. He went up to the front of the class and stood in front of the board. He tried to think of something he's good at, but instead, he only grew more nervous.

"Take your time, Blue. It's alright." Ms. Nymbus comforted him.

"I-I honestly do... not know what my special talent is. I'm sorry..." he replied. The entire class, except Thunder, Singer and Violet begun to giggle. The teacher comforted him again.

"It's fine, Blue. Not everypony manages to find their special talent in the first grade. Your cutie mark is unique. It can come to you at anytime." the teacher explained in her usual motherly tone.

"I suppose you're right." Blue replied, still tearful and went to sit down beside Thunder, who comforted him.

"Hey, it's alright. Not everypony gets their marks in the first grade. My brother Streak Lightning got his in the fifth grade." Thunder explained.

"But I wanted to prove... I was better than Singer..." Blue said in a sad tone.

"You still have a lot of opportunities, Blue. I mean, we're gonna be here for the next five years!" Thunder replied. Blue's frown slowly turned into a grin.

"Thanks, Thunder! You're the bestest friend anypony could ever have!" Blue said in delight. In the distance, Ms. Nymbus watched the two friends, smiling. She then called out another pony from her randomized list to show her special talent.

After a day of playing, learning and finding out about each other, Blue and Thunder were ready to go home.

"Bye Thunder!" Blue said to his friend as both of them trotted out of the building.

"Bye Blue. I enjoyed playing with you today!" Thunder said as he walked away with his dad.

"Me as well. See you next week, friend!" Blue said, waving back to his friend as he left for his home. He smiled and ran up to his mom.

"Hey, little guy!" she said as she nuzzled her little colt. "How was your first day at school?" she asked him.

"School was great mom! I got to meet a new friend who's just left." he said to his mom, pointing at Thunder and his dad.

"That's great, sweetie! Making friends is one of the greatest things in the life of a young pony." his mother explained to him. "You seem a bit sad, sweetie. Is everything alright?" she asked Blue.

"There were some kids who got their cutie marks today, mom... I wasn't one of them." he said with a sad tone. Blue turned to face his mom and showed her his bare flank.

"Oh, sweetie. You know that not everypony gets their marks in the first grade. I certainly didn't, and your father, got his mark in the fifth grade. You'll just have to wait for it; I'm sure there'll be more opportunities for you to try for your mark." she said, nuzzling him.

"I guess..." he said, still unsure whether such an opportunity will come by.

"Come on, let's go home. I have your favorite; hay fries and salad!" she said with an excited tone. Blue's glum face was replaced by a grin.

"Yay! Let's go mommy!" he said to her as they went home. Summer was proud of her little colt for achieving one of the greatest milestones of a young pony's life; their first day of school.


	3. The Eye of the Storm

July 30, 1998

It was a nice summer's day in Cloudsdale, however, a huge drought has hit central Equestria, meaning the Weather Factory had to produce twice as much clouds as it usually does. While Lightning Fast was working in the Weather Factory, Summer took Blue to Cloudsdale Park to play with Thunder. As he trotted towards Thunder, he noticed something on his flank. It was his cutie mark; it had a thundercloud with a fork of lightning coming out of the bottom.

"Good luck, honey! Have fun!" Summer said to Blue, who simply smiled back. She went to sit on a nearby bench and looked at her son and his friend playing.

"Hey, Blue!" said Thunder.

"Thunder! How was your summer holidays? Did you go anywhere?" Blue asked his friend.

"Yeah, I went to Vanhoover. I was visiting my family members. What about you?" Thunder asked in return.

"I stayed in Cloudsdale. We were going to go to Manehatten, but my dad's job cancelled our trip." Blue replied with a glum face. Thunder nodded understandingly.

"Yeah, weather ponies rarely get days off." Thunder explained.

"No they don't. They get a lot more days off than you think." Blue corrected him. Thunder chuckled lightly.

"So, how did you get your cutie mark?" Blue asked. Thunder thought to himself.

"I created a small thunderhead back in Vanhoover since there was not much rain there recently. However, it only rained for five minutes. Then, the weather patrol guys created a massive one." Thunder explained. Blue was in awe and was quite jealous of his best friend, but he shrugged the feeling of jealousy off.

"Cool." was all Blue could say.

"What do you wanna do, Blue?" Thunder asked him.

"Hoofball?" Blue said as he took out a ball from under his wing. Thunder grinned.

"Sure! Let's play!" Thunder replied with a smile and Blue put the ball down on the cloud. As the two colts were playing, two bullies from Cloudsdale Middle School trotted into the park and observed Blue and Thunder play. Thunder turned around and noticed one of them coming over.

"Uh, hey!" he said in a frightened but enthusiastic voice.

"Hey there, Thunder." the bully said. "How was your summer?" he asked.

"It was good, I got my cutie mAAARrk!" he screamed as the bully picked him up by the wing. Blue noticed this and came over to him.

"That's by far... the worst cutie mark I've ever seen. It's not even real!" the bully said as he held Thunder in mid-air.

"It's a real cutie mark!" Thunder shouted. The bully noticed Blue coming over and looked at his flank.

"Leave him alone..." Blue said with a frightened voice.

"You... don't have a cutie mark, so back off Blue before I beat you up!" the bully threatened.

"Just... please...leave him alone!" Blue shouted as the bully prepared to throw Thunder towards a building.

"Why should I leave him alone? He's just a blank-flank who's trying to be cool and so are you." the bully said. Suddenly, they turned around.

"Flame! We have to go back home!" a motherly voice shouted from the distance. Blue and Thunder chuckled as the bully turned red.

"Who's that?" Blue asked in a playful tone.

"Mommy?" Thunder asked, giggling. Flame simply trotted off towards where the voice is coming from and left the two colts alone. The other bully simply shrugged and went after Flame.

"Bye Lame-Flame!" Blue waved mockingly.

"Thanks for sticking up for me, Blue!" Thunder said with a grin to his best friend.

"You're welcome. Anything for my best friend!" Blue replied back, smiling, although that smile was replaced with a glum face soon after.

"Blue, is everything alright?" Thunder asked.

"It's just that... I've been waiting almost four years to get my mark. Almost everypony in the class has theirs and I don't have mines yet." Blue said sadly.

Before Thunder could comfort Blue, a droplet of rain fell on him, soon followed by more raindrops. Blue and Thunder turned and looked at the sky. A thundercloud had enveloped the sun and was slowly moving towards the fields near Cloudsdale.

"We should be getting home by now, sweetie." Summer shouted to Blue. Blue gave her a reassuring nod.

"Hey, Thunder. You wanna come?" Blue asked.

"No, sorry. I gotta go back home." Thunder replied.

"Alright. See you tomorrAAAH!" Blue screamed as a loud crash of thunder suddenly rolled through the air. Thunder simply chuckled as he watched his friend get startled out of his mind.

"Bye, Blue!" he said as he walked towards his home. Blue turned back and smiled lightly and walked up to Summer and hid under her wing. Summer turned to face him, smiling.

"Blue, it's just thunder. There's nothing to be afraid of." she spoke to him in her soft, motherly tone.

"I know, mommy, but I'm just startled." Blue replied, still shaking.

"Come on sweetie, let's go home." Summer said to Blue, nuzzling him. Blue nodded lightly and came out of under her wing.

At home...

Blue watched through his window as the rain pattered down the windowpane. He also looked at the lightning flashing over the city and jumped back into his bed every time he heard a clap of thunder. The cloud was supposed to be moving towards a field, but instead it positioned itself over the city and looked pretty stationary. Summer was downstairs preparing a vegetable salad along with some hay fries. Blue decided to trot downstairs and ask his mom an important question.

"Mom?" Blue asked.

"Yeah sweetie?" Summer replied, putting down the tray of hay fries on the kitchen counter.

"Why is it storming right now?" Blue asked.

"Well, sweetie. It's stormy because the weather ponies noticed it's too dry down below, so they realized that we need some rain. And since a thunderstorm like this one is the quickest way of getting the rain to the fields around the city, the weather ponies made one. And don't worry about the thunder, son. I know we don't get much storms in Cloudsdale, but thunder's nothing to be afraid of." Summer explained.

"What's it like being a weather pony, mom?" Blue asked.

"Well, being a weather pony is a very athletic job, so you have to be pretty fit for it, and you have to know how to make different weather patterns, so it requires a lot of effort too. But overall, it's worth it because you're helping Equestria in one of the biggest ways possible; by controlling the weather." Summer explained. "Why're you asking sweetie?" she asked.

"I'm thinking I want to be a weather pony when I grow up, mom." Blue replied.

"You are, sweetie?" Summer said with a smile on her face.

"Yep!" Blue replied.

"I think you should be a weather pony if you want to, sweetie. I mean, I remember how much you were liked it when it snowed and how you enjoyed it when it was nice and sunny. I think you could be a great weather pony." Summer explained.

"Thanks mom!" Blue said and hugged his mom, who hugged in return. Outside however, the storm however, wasn't letting off and the rain begun to steadily get worse.

After the talk with his mom and after eating his food, Blue went up to his room to observe the weather. Nothing seemed to be changing; the storm wasn't beginning to dissipate. Blue had enough; he was going to clear up the sky. He went downstairs and went to explain to his mom what he was going to do.

"Mom?" Blue asked.

"Yeah, sweetie?" Summer replied.

"I'm going to go to Thunder's house. Is that alright with you?" Blue asked her.

"Sure it is!" Summer replied. "Just be safe and be back before 7. Alright? And don't fly." she told him.

"Okay." Blue said. He opened the door and walked to a nearby cloud field, where he took off, however instead of flying to Thunder's house, which was two blocks away from Blue's house, he flew high into the air and went through the cloud cover. There were lightning bolts lighting up the air around him.

"Okay... how am I going to do this?" Blue asked himself. He suddenly got an idea. He flew through the clouds around where he is, causing them to evaporate and the lightning bolts circling them to disappear.

"Wow..." he said, looking proudly at what he'd done.

He continued to fly around the hole in the cloud cover that he'd made, flying through the clouds and narrowly missing several lightning bolts in the process. Eventually, the hole was big enough to see a very nice blue sky from the bottom. Blue continued to fly. This time, he flew through the thundercloud leading to Thunder's home. Due to the larger amounts of turbulence in this part of the cloud, he found it much harder flying through it, but he continued to fly. He continued flying through the large thundercloud, which begun to evaporate and narrowly missed a forming lightning bolt.

"WOAH!" Blue screamed as he dodged the lightning bolt. He decided to turn back, but felt something forming on his flank.

"_Maybe it's just the wind..._" Blue thought to himself as he stopped in mid-air. He flew back down into Cloudsdale and landed beside a fountain in Downtown. He looked into the water and saw something on his flank. His own cutie mark. Two small cumulus clouds surrounding the sun. Blue was just lost for words. He begun to tear up out of joy, but decided to hide the feeling until he got home. Blue took off for home where he'd explain to Summer what exactly he was doing. While he was flying through the thunderstorm, he found it hard to concentrate. Rain seemed to lash at him from every corner of the sky and lighting crackled ominously in the background. He reached the clearing that he's made in the storm cloud and turned to fly home. To Blue's surprise, there were two weather ponies making the clearing bigger and one of the ponies was Lightning Fast, his dad. Blue tried to hide in a nearby cloud, but the build-up of static electricity inside it kept shocking him, eventually to the point where Lightning Fast heard him.

"What was that?" Lightning asked his partner, Cyclone.

"What was what, Lightning?" Cyclone asked.

"I don't know, it sounded like a scream." Lightning said, before hearing the same sound again. Suddenly, Blue shot out of the cloud and hit Cyclone's wing.

"Auughhh..." Cyclone hissed in pain.

"Sorry!" Blue said to Cyclone. He felt a small tap on his wing. It was Lightning Fast, who was now angrier than ever.

"And so you should be, Blue." Lightning said with a less-than-pleased look on his face.

"Dad!" Blue said and tried to hug him.

"What are you doing out here? It's dangerous flying out in this weather!" Lightning shouted at Blue.

"I better go back to the factory. See ya, Lightning." Cyclone said and tried to fly into the clouds in order to avoid distracting the father and son.

"I'm sorry. I was just trying to get my cutie mark and I thought I'd get it by clearing up the sky over Cloudsdale!" Blue said with tears in his eyes. Lightning's glare softened a bit.

"You wanted to clear up the sky over Cloudsdale?" Lightning asked him. "But why?"

"Because I wanted to be a weather pony like you and mom. That and most kids in my class already got their marks. Like I said, I'm really sorry and I won't do it again, I promise!" Blue explained.

"You want to be a weather pony?" Lightning asked.

"Of course I do!" Blue replied. Lightning simply smiled at Blue and wrapped his wing around him.

"I'm proud of you, Blue." he said, wrapping his wing around Blue. "But still, you shouldn't have gone out in this weather." Lightning explained. "Mom's probably worried sick about where you are."

"I told her that I was going to Thunder's house." Blue told Lightning.

"And were you really?" Lightning asked.

"No..." Blue said with a glum-looking face.

"Don't lie to mom like that. I know you were just trying to get your mark, but you could've been seriously hurt out here." Lightning explained.

"I know. And I'm really sorry, dad." Blue explained.

"Don't be son. You got your mark and I'm very proud of you for that, just please stay at home in this weather next time. Alright?" Lightning asked, with a smile on his face.

"Okay." Blue replied, grinning. Lightning simply ruffled his mane with his wing and they flew off towards their home.

At home...

It was just after half past five by the time Blue and Lightning came back home and the sky was already cleared up by the more experienced weather patrol, leaving a blue-gold sky. Summer was preparing another batch of hay fries, this time for Lightning, who was supposed to be home by 6:30 PM. While Summer put the fries into the oven, she heard a knock on the door.

_"Who could that be?"_ she thought to herself as she opened up the door. To her surprise, it was Blue and Lightning.

"Hey honey." Lightning said to his wife, nuzzling her.

"Hey, boys! You're both back pretty early..." Summer said with a hint of concern in her voice. "What happened?" she asked. Blue begun to get embarrassed.

"It's uh, a long story." Lightning explained with a hint of embarrassment in his voice.

"Come on in!" Summer said. With that, Blue and Lightning came into the house and as Blue trotted in, Summer begun to notice a mark on his flank.

"Blue, sweetie, can you turn around?" she asked him.

"Alright, mom." Blue said and done as his mom asked of him. "Do you like it?" he asked humbly.

"It's beautiful, son. I really like it." Summer said in her voice. "But when did you get it?" she asked.

"Today..." Blue said with a hint of regret in his voice. "Mom? I didn't go to Thunder's house today." Blue begun to explain.

"What did you do, sweetie?" Summer asked.

"I had enough of the storm... So I went to clean up the sky just like the weather ponies do." Blue explained. "I'm so sorry for lying to you mom."

"Sweetie..." Summer said as she nuzzled Blue. "You know you're not a weather pony yet. Sky-cleaning is a pretty dangerous job." she scolded him.

"I know, mom and I really am sorry." Blue explained. "I just wanted to earn my cutie mark so I can be like the other ponies in my school and have a special talent!"

"I know you are son and I hope you've learned your lesson. And I'm really proud of you for getting your cutie mark. It looks very unique and I'm sure the kids at school will like it when you come back next month." she said smiling.

"Thanks mom." Blue said, grinning. He nuzzled her one more time before she went to pull out the tray of hay fries from the oven.

"But this doesn't mean that you aren't getting grounded." Summer said from the kitchen. Blue didn't like being grounded but on several occasions, such as this, he had no choice.

"Hey son." Lightning begun.

"What is it, daddy?" Blue asked.

"How about... we go to weather factory on Saturday and I show you around? Like, show you how we make the clouds, the rain and even how we make wind." Lightning proposed.

"Okay! Thanks dad!" Blue said, grinning.

"You're welcome, son. You're very welcome." Lightning spoke and ruffled Blue's mane. Summer simply smiled as she put down the plates for her two special guys.


	4. A New Brother

[u]Oct. 23, 1998[/u]

It was already after school and Blue Skye and Thunder trotted down the road leading to their homes. It was a nice October day and it's already begun to get colder in Cloudsdale, so Blue and Thunder decided to enjoy one of the last days of warmth in the city and possibly one the last days of their friendship.

"So, how's your weekend been?" Blue asked Thunder.

"It's been pretty good. My dad's close to getting a job promotion and we might move house." Thunder explained.

"Where about are you guys moving? Are you going to be leaving Cloudsdale?" Blue asked. It took Thunder a while to answer that question.

"It's possible we'll move to Ponyville or Canterlot. We're still looking at house prices." Thunder replied.

"I'm gonna miss you, buddy. We've been best friends for over 4 years." Blue said with a sad face, while putting a hoof around Thunder's shoulder.

"I'm going to miss you too, Blue. I'll still probably be at school for Nightmare Night; I think we're moving in November." Thunder explained.

"Alright then. But still, you were a great friend." Blue replied. Thunder simply smiled.

"Anyways..." he begun. "I forgot to ask, how was your weekend?" Blue thought to himself.

"It was pretty good. Dad signed me up for the Weather Team's junior program. I'm starting today." Blue explained with a grin. Blue was one of the youngest recruits so far on the Weather Team's junior program, which included ponies from ages 10 to 18 and he was starting his first day as a junior recruit on that very same day, so Blue was pretty nervous.

"Oh, cool! I know I didn't tell you this before, but when I grow up, I want to either be a Royal Guard, a weather pony or a businesspony like my dad is." Thunder explained.

"If you want to be a weather pony, you should ask your dad if he can sign you up for the junior program. I haven't been yet, but it should be fun." Blue said with mock excitement in his voice.

"I don't know..." Thunder simply replied. "I still need to think."

"It's fine." Blue said. "I still don't know whether I'd be a good weather pony when I'm older. I mean, my parents are great weather ponies. I don't know if I'll ever amount to that."

"Maybe you will. Just... try your best." Thunder said, nudging Blue playfully. Eventually, the two colts reached Blue's home.

"See you tomorrow, Thunder." Blue said and waved back at his friend.

"See you, Blue." Thunder replied and continued trotting off. Blue opened the door to his house and stepped in.

"Mom, I'm home." Blue said.

"Hey, sweetie." Summer replied and nuzzled Blue. "How was your day at school today? Are you ready for your first day in the Junior Program?" she asked him.

"It was pretty good, except for the fact that Thunder might be moving away." Blue replied, with a hint of sadness in his voice. "And yeah, I am ready." he said.

"Thunder's moving away?" Summer asked.

"Yeah, they might be moving to Ponyville or Canterlot. They're still looking for a house." Blue replied.

"Oh, right..." Summer said. "Hm. Maybe I could talk to Thunder's dad if maybe I could take you to his house for a few hours every Saturday or Sunday. What do you say?"

"That'd be great. Thanks, mom!" Blue replied.

Summer simply smiled at him. "Come on, let's go to the kitchen. I have hay fries and salad for you, Blue." Blue simply grinned. A few hours later and Lightning Fast came back. Blue grinned as he watched his dad walk towards the house from his bedroom window; he knew that Lightning Fast is taking him to the Weather Factory for the Junior Program. The moment Blue heard the door click open, he immediately trotted downstairs to greet his dad.

"Hey, son!" Lightning Fast said and hugged Blue.

"Hey dad!" Blue simply replied.

"Are you ready to go to the Weather Factory?" Lightning asked.

"I sure am!" Blue said in reply.

"Alright. I better go eat. I'll see you in twenty minutes. For now, you can go back upstairs. Alright?" Lightning asked.

"Okay, daddy." Blue replied and trotted upstairs. Summer came out of the living room and stood beside Lightning Fast. He wrapped his wing around her and sighed.

"Our son is growing up, Lighty." Summer said with a smile on his face.

"He sure is..." Lightning replied with pride. "I remember him trotting around the house in diapers like it was just yesterday, and now he wants to be a weather pony, just like us." He nuzzled Summer.

"We should tell him about the foal." Summer whispered into Lightning's ear.

"Good idea, honey." Lightning replied and they both went back into the kitchen to eat. About twenty minutes later, Blue trotted down the stairs into the living room. He stopped as he noticed his parents standing in the middle of the room.

"Mom, dad?" Blue asked.

"Blue, we have something very important to tell you." Lightning replied. Blue raised an eyebrow.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"You're going to be a brother." Summer replied, with a smile on her face. Blue was lost for words.

"So, d-does that mean, that you-you're pregnant?" Blue asked.

"Yes, son." Summer replied. Blue was lost for words and simply grinned.

"That's great, mom!" Blue said. "Is it a colt or a filly?" he asked.

Lightning simply chuckled. "We don't know yet, son." He replied, smiling.

"This is great news!" Blue replied, while Summer and Lightning simply smiled at their son. It was time to go.

"Alright, son. Are you ready to go to the Weather Factory with me?" Lightning asked.

"I sure am, dad." Blue replied. Lightning smiled and both of the trotted out of the house and flew off towards the city. It was one of those clear nights when the most of the city could be seen from Blue's house, not just part of it, including the Weather Factory, which is usually not visible from Blue's house. Blue was nervous during the flight there, not just about the Junior Program and joining the weather team when he's older but also about his mom being pregnant. He decided to bring the subject up to Lightning Fast.

"Dad?" Blue asked.

"Yeah, son?" Lightning replied.

"Will mom be alright?" Blue asked.

"She will, son. Don't worry." Lightning said. "I know you're not used to this, but trust me, everything will be alright." he replied, putting his wing around Blue. "You'll get used to it, son."

[i]At the Weather Factory...[/i]

Blue and Lightning trotted up to the rain chamber of the Weather Factory, where the lessons took place. As they walked across the factory, the feeling of nervousness overtook Blue again. This wasn't the first time Blue was at the factory, but it was his first time doing the Junior Program lessons. That and most of the ponies in the class were taller and more intimidating than Blue is. Lightning Fast left Blue in the cue and went to stand nearby with all the other parents. Blue felt pretty uncomfortable standing between two pegasi who were a lot taller than him, but after a reassuring wink from Lightning Fast, he calmed himself down. He could tell that the pony standing before him was Streak Lightning, Thunder's older brother. Streak Lightning was a 16-year old colt who was almost finished with the junior lessons and was assisting the coach.

Blue looked at the front of the cue. There were over a dozen ponies standing in front of him. He then looked over the edge of the platform. There was a cloud about fifty feet off the platform, floating over a pretty deep gap. Although the task (which was to punch through the cloud) seemed pretty easy at first, it actually was a nightmare; the technicians activated large fans which simulated wind and pushed the ponies around the gap. Blue was a good flyer, but he was still nervous about taking off and about the entire "new foal" thing. Eventually, it came for Blue's turn to punch through the cloud.

"Next!" the coach shouted. Blue reluctantly walked up to the edge of the platform.

"Alright Blue Skye, is it?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's me." Blue replied.

"I want you to fly out there, fly through that cloud and fly back, okay? It's as simple as that." the coach said.

"Okay..." Blue said and begun to flutter his wings. He pulled off the platform and flew towards the cloud. The technicians then turned on the fans, which pushed Blue around the room. Blue screamed as he flew out of control and accidentally hit a wall in the progress. He eventually bounced off the wall and regained control of himself.

[i]Easy now...[/i] he thought to himself, but he still had that thought of the new baby stuck in his head. He was about 10 feet away from the cloud, when suddenly he turned back out of nerve.

"What are you doing?" the coach shouted. "You're meant to tear through the cloud!" Blue ignored him and flew back to the platform. The coach then came over to him, along with Streak Lightning, who was less-than-pleased.

"What was that all about?" the coach shouted. "You were just mere feet away from the cloud and you turned away! What's gotten into you?"

"I'm sorry..." Blue replied, with a tear rolling down his cheek. The coach simply sighed.

"Blue, if you want to get accepted into the team, I'd suggest you be the best you can be and not goof around." the coach said with a stern face and turned away. Streak Lightning simply shrugged.

"Nice work getting 'accepted' into the Junior Program, kid." he said before turning away and following the coach. Some of the kids in the cue smirked, while Lightning Fast, who was overlooking the entire situation, simply shook his head. Blue trotted back to Lightning Fast and waited for a reaction.

"Come on, son. Let's just go home." Lightning replied. Blue trotted by his father, who was disappointed in him. Eventually, when both of them were out of the Weather Factory and were flying over the city towards home, Lightning spoke.

"I thought you wanted to be a weather pony." he said with a disappointed tone in his voice.

"I do, dad..." Blue replied.

"Then why didn't you do what they told you to do?" Lightning asked him.

"Because... Dad look, I was nervous." Blue replied.

"About what? About the new baby? Is that what you're nervous about?" Lightning asked.

"Yeah, and not just that. I was nervous about joining this entire Junior Program too." Blue spoke. "I just don't know if I'd live up to your standards." Lightning sighed.

"Blue, look." he begun. "I know you're nervous about all that stuff, but you can't let that hold you back. And yeah, you can live up to my standards. You are a very talented and smart young pony whom I know can take my place when I retire. You'd be a great weather pony son, but you need to try harder. Alright? And you need to put distractions like the new foal aside. I know you're pretty nervous about your mom having a baby, but that's not going to help you train harder."

"I guess you're right..." Blue replied.

"Hey." Lightning said to Blue and winked at him. "We're almost home."

[u]The next day...[/u]

Blue and Thunder were hanging out in Thunder's backyard. Thunder's dad had bought a trampoline not long ago, so both Blue and Thunder could play in the garden without getting bored. Blue was thinking about what happened yesterday, and had decided to explain everything to Thunder. Both of them were playing hide n' seek and were hiding amongst the clouds that made up the backyard. This time, it was Thunder who was seeking. Blue was peeping through a gap in the cloud bushes and chuckling to himself while looking at Thunder through it. Thunder eventually noticed Blue staring at him through the gap.

"Ah, found you!" he said with pride.

"Yeah... I'm not good at not giving away my location." Blue explained.

"It doesn't really matter, Blue." Thunder said. "I'm bored..."

"Yeah, me too. Oh, and I have something to tell you." Blue said.

"Yeah? What's wrong?" Thunder asked.

"Nothing... my mom's pregnant." Blue started.

"Woah. Really?" Thunder asked.

"Yep. It's because of that I failed my first lesson in the Junior Program. I kept thinking too much about the new baby and impressing my dad." Blue explained.

"Well then, just try not to think of it too much." Thunder explained. "I mean, you do want to be a weather pony like your mom and dad are, don't you?" he asked Blue.

"Yep. I mean, why am I so nervous about it? I mean, my mom's probably due in like, 11 months or something. I don't have to worry now." Blue explained.

"I agree. Do you want to continue playing hide-n'-seek or do you want to do something else, Blue?" Thunder asked.

"We should go to the park to play a game of hoofball. Ask your dad if he'd let us." Blue said.

[u]11 months later...[/u]

It was a nice September afternoon in Cloudsdale and Blue was busy practicing his flying with Lightning Fast. In those eleven months that have passed since Blue's first lesson in the Junior Program, he has improved his concentration and his flying skills hugely and was now at the stage of creating his own clouds. He sometimes spent his weekends in the Weather Factory and learning about how rainbows are made or how wind is created, but now, since it was still pretty warm, he was busy perfecting his flying. Lightning was sitting on a bench, watching Blue flying around the park and reading a newspaper while doing so.

"Great work, Blue!" Lightning cheered Blue on as he flew around the jungle gym and beneath the slide in the playground. It was his third time doing so. He zoomed up to where Lightning was sitting down, out of breath but still standing.

"So, how did it go?" Blue asked.

"You did pretty well, son. Maybe we should've signed you up for the Wonderbolts Academy?" Lightning replied and gave Blue a bottle of water.

Blue drank the water voraciously and then spoke. "No, not really. I don't want to be anypony famous. Not yet anyway." Blue explained.

"I see." Lightning replied. "Your flying skills remind me of a certain pegasus filly. She's really good at flying and she goes to your school. I think her name is Rainbow Dash or something." Lightning explained.

"I know her." Blue said. "She's in my grade." he explained. Blue often looked up to Rainbow Dash, especially in Phys Ed, since she was far better at flying than Blue was, although she was always ready to give a helping hoof.

"Oh, that's cool. She's the daughter of one of my friends." Lightning said. "We better get home, alright? I'm supposed to be cooking dinner tonight."

"Okay." Blue replied and Lightning folded up his newspaper and hid it under his wing. They returned home about 15 minutes later to Summer Skies lying on the sofa. Summer was visibly weak and tired and had grown by a lot, but she had the strength to wave to them.

"Hi, boys." Summer said. "How did it go?" she asked.

"Hey mom." Blue replied.

"Hey honey." Lightning said. "It went pretty well. Blue's flying is incredible." Blue simply smiled sheepishly at the comment.

"You alright, mom?" Blue asked.

"Yeah, I'm just pretty tired, that's all." she explained.

"Okay then." Blue replied and sat down beside her. About 20 minutes later, Lightning came out from the kitchen carrying a large dish with hay pizza on it. As the family sat down to eat, Blue couldn't help but notice Summer feel more nauseous and unwell.

"Mom, you sure everything is okay?" Blue asked her, with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine son. Don't worry about me. Eat your pizza, okay?" Summer said.

"Okay..." Blue said and cut into the pizza. Summer ate her piece reluctantly, and by the time she was done, Lightning was washing the dishes in the kitchen and Blue was upstairs doing his own thing. She walked over to the sofa and lay down, hoping to get a rest after a long day. A few hours later, Summer woke up to cramps in her stomach, which grew more persistent every minute.

"Ugh..." she groaned as she got up from the sofa. "Lighty, I don't feel too good." she said.

"What's wrong, honey?" Lightning asked from the kitchen.

"I don't know. I think that-AUUGHHH..." her answer was cut off by a sharp scream, caused by a sudden pain in her abdomen. "The foal's coming!" she shouted. Blue rushed down the stairs over to his mom.

"Daddy, what's going on?!" Blue asked frantically.

"Blue, I want you to go and play with Singer at his house. Mom's giving birth..." Lightning explained to Blue. When Thunder moved away to Ponyville that previous year, Blue begun to hang around and respect Singer Case a lot more, usually when Violet wasn't around. Most of the time, Blue would hang out with either Singer Case, Rainbow Dash or he'd go to the park and play with the ponies there.

"Okay..." Blue replied. Lightning wrapped his wing around Summer and flew off with her towards the Cloudsdale Hospital, while Blue trotted off towards Singer's house. It was still dusk, so Blue could still see where he was going, but Blue's mind concentrated on other things, such as whether his mom would be okay. Eventually, Blue reached Singer's house. He frantically knocked on the door, waiting for an answer. Eventually, the door opened.

"Hi, Blue." the soft, friendly voice went. It was Singer's mom. "Are you here to play with Singer?"

"Hey, Mrs. Case." Blue replied. "And yeah, I sure am!"

"Okay then, come on in." Mrs. Case (or Belle) lead him into the house. "Are you hungry, Blue?" she asked him.

"No thanks. I already ate at my own house." Blue replied.

"Alright then. Singer! There's a friend here to see you!" Belle called upstairs.

"Alright, mom." Singer replied. He went over to the stairs and realized who it is. "Hey Blue! Come on upstairs." he said.

"Okay." Blue replied and reluctantly trotted up the stairs. Belle went back into the kitchen to prepare something for her husband to eat. While Singer and Blue were playing up the stairs, Blue kept being distracted and confused by things.

"Hey, Blue. Do you want to do a roleplay session with me?" Singer asked Blue.

"Uh, okay..." Blue replied awkwardly. "What kind of roleplay? A band or something?" he asked.

"No, I was thinking something book-related." Singer explained.

"Okay..." Blue replied.

"I mean, we could be brave explorers, just like Daring Do is or we could be space ponies." Singer suggested. "Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Not really..." Blue begun. "My mom's... having another baby as we speak."

"That's cool." Singer said with enthusiasm in his voice. "Is it going to be a colt or a filly?" he asked.

"How am I supposed to know, dummy?" Blue replied with a hint of anger in his voice, but calmed down. "Look, I'm just very nervous about having a new sibling." he said.

"Brawn must have felt the way you were feeling, Blue back when my parents had me." Singer explained. "But look at us now. We're kinda friends with each other." he explained.

"Singer, don't start!" shouted a voice from the next room. Blue and Singer simply chuckled.

"Well, most of the time we are." Singer explained. "Who knows? Maybe you and your little brother or sister will be best friends?"

"Only time will tell..." Blue said.

"Yeah..." Singer replied. "So, what are we roleplaying? Daring Do or Space ponies?" he asked.

"I don't know... Space ponies sounds like a pretty cool idea." Blue said.

"Alright, we'll give it a go." Singer replied. While the two colts were playing together, at the hospital, Summer has finally calmed down and was exhausted. The doctor was holding a very light-orange pegasus with a tuft of brown hair for a mane. The foal was crying.

"Congratulations, Mr. Fast, Mrs. Skies! It's a colt!" the doctor said and handed the colt over to Summer, who stroked it lightly with his hoof, which calmed the colt down.

"He's beautiful, Lighty. He's perfect." Summer spoke to him.

"I know, honey. Just like you." Lightning replied to her and nuzzled her and the colt lightly. "I'm going to go and fly to get Blue."

"Alright, honey." Summer replied and nuzzled the colt, who seemed to calm down even more.

At the Case house, there was a knock. "I'll get it!" Briefs said and went to open the door. Lightning Fast was standing in front of the door, overjoyed.

"Hey, Briefs." Lightning said, smiling and breathing at the same time.

"Hey, Lightning. What's gotten into you?" Briefs asked.

"My wife... she's had a second foal. I'm here to get Blue. Alright?" Lightning replied and walked into the house. "Hi, Belle." he said as he walked past Belle, who was lying on a sofa in the living room.

"That's great!" Briefs spoke with an excited tone.

"We're so happy for you!" Belle said.

"I know and thanks. Hey, Blue. Can you come downstairs?" Lightning spoke from downstairs.

"I gotta go. Bye Singer!" Blue said and waved to his friend.

"Bye Blue!" Singer replied and waved back. Blue trotted down the stairs.

"Hey dad." Blue said. "Is mom alright?"

"She is, in fact, I'm taking you to meet the newest member of our family! Come on." Lightning said. Lightning and Blue then flew over to the Hospital, where Summer Skies was waiting for them.

"Hey honey." Lightning said as he walked into the room.

"Hey guys!" Summer said. "Oh, and Blue?"

Blue trotted over to Summer's bed. "Yes mom? Is the baby here?" he asked her. Summer simply smiled and nodded. Blue flew up into the air, revealing the new arrival snuggled on Summer.

"Blue, meet the newest member of our family. This is Firestorm." Summer said. Blue could only look on in happiness and pride, but also in confusion. He suddenly remembered what Singer said about his friendship with his older brother and wondered if he could be the same.


	5. Blue's Crush

Aug. 19, 2002

It was Blue's first day as a high school student. He walked down the corridor and looked around his new surroundings. There high school was far bigger and more elaborate than Cloudsdale Elementary School, but Blue wasn't used to being alone on the first day of school. It's been almost four years since Thunder has moved to Canterlot, and while Blue had two good friends, Rainbow Dash and Singer, who often hung out with him, Blue still felt like Thunder was his most realest friend. As Blue walked down the corridor towards his first class, he noticed a new pony looking completely clueless about where she's going. As Blue looked at her, he was lost in thought. _She looks so beautiful..._ Blue thought to himself, but then snapped out of it as he noticed the pony walking towards him. He decided to talk to her.

"You alright there?" Blue asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Do you by any chance know where..." the mare replied, before pausing for a little while as she scrolled through her school timetable. "Mr. Cyclone is?" Blue smiled.

"I have him next. If you'd like I could come with you to the class." Blue explained.

"Sure, that'll be cool." the mare said, grinning. "My name is Meadow Breeze. Yours?" she asked.

"I'm Blue Skye, but you can call me Blue if you want. I don't really mind." he replied.

"Nice name." she replied, smiling.

"I like yours too. So, you coming... Meadow?" Blue asked.

"Sure." she replied, smiling. The two ponies made it to class just before the bell rang and sat down at two vacant desks, which were sat beside each other. The teacher then came in. He was the same Cyclone who worked alongside Lightning Fast at the Weather Factory, but after reaching a midlife crisis, he retired from the Weather Team and he became a Geography teacher in Cloudsdale High School.

"Morning, everypony." Cyclone begun. "My name is Mr. Cyclone and I'm going to be your Geography teacher for the next year. Alright? Good. We'll start the school year off by learning about the physical geography of Equestria. I have a feeling this year is going to be very enjoyable." he said, before noticing Blue Skye looking at Meadow, who sat directly opposite him. He was lost in thought; he had already just met her and he seemed to be feeling differently around her. Was Blue having a crush on her? Blue's thoughts were distracted by a voice.

"Blue Skye?" Cyclone called out. The entire class turned around and looked at him.

"Uh... Yes, Mr. Cyclone?" Blue asked.

"What did I just say there?" Cyclone asked him.

"Uh... You were talking something about Geography, weren't you?" Blue replied. The teacher simply sighed.

"Care to be more specific, Blue?" he asked. Blue sighed.

"I uh, wasn't listening, Mr. Cyclone." Blue admitted.

"That's what I thought, Blue Skye. You foals these days, never paying any attention to anything..." Cyclone sighed. Some colts smirked at Blue, who simply sighed and opened his Geography book. Meadow simply smiled at him and opened up her book as well. As the day progressed, Blue found it hard to concentrate on his lessons. He often turned to face Meadow and smiled at her and wondered whether he was actually falling for her. At lunch, Blue was sitting beside Singer and Rainbow Dash.

"So, Singer. Do you want to come to the park after school so we can improve your flying skills?" Rainbow Dash asked, in her usual brash tone.

"No thanks, Dash. I already learned quite a lot in Elementary..." Singer replied.

"Believe it or not, it's much harder flying around the park than through some old clouds." Dash replied. "You think you're up for it?" she asked him.

"Uh, I don't know." Singer replied.

"Hey, Blue." Dash asked. Blue was lost in his thought; he was looking at Meadow, who was sitting with some new friends at the table in front of theirs.

"Blueeeee!" Dash called out. She then had an idea; she reached out across the table and tried to grab Blue's cookies. Dash knew how much Blue enjoyed his cookies that his mom often gave him to school, so that'd be a perfect way to distract him. Dash then grabbed the cookies from Blue's lunch tray and flashed them in front of his eyes. Blue then snapped out of his train of thought and glared at Dash.

"Hey, these are mine! Gimme them back." Blue said, glaring at Dash. He grabbed them off her and hid them in his bag, so she couldn't reach them. They both then sat back.

"Now, what do you want Dash?" Blue asked.

"Nothing. I was just going to ask if you think Singer can fly around the playground in Cloudsdale Park." Dash replied. Blue thought to himself.

"Yeah, if he trains hard enough. And believe me, it's incredibly hard flying around that playground." Blue replied. "But right now, Singer doesn't seem ready enough." he smirked.

"Maybe-HEY!" Singer replied. "I am ready! Don't you remember back when I beat Thunder Clap in that course back in middle school?" he asked.

"Yep. I do." Blue replied. Although Blue was quite an experienced flyer back then, just like Rainbow Dash, Blue still flew in that course and managed to fly past Thunder Clap twice, before running out of breath and moving down into fourth place. Blue, however, never crossed paths with Thunder Clap or any of his goons again. "I hated him so much. I'm wondering if he's here right now..." Blue said.

"He is." Dash replied. "I'm just glad Singer taught him a lesson back then, otherwise he'd have made all of our lives a misery." she said.

"Yep." Blue agreed.

"Oh, and Blue?" he said.

"Yeah?" Blue answered.

"What were you looking at back then, when Dash almost took your cookies?" Singer asked. Blue's cheeks then flushed red.

"Uh, nothing. I was just looking at what's going on outside. I think it was some kind of large bird of prey or something. You don't see them everyday in Cloudsdale." Blue replied and chuckled. Dash simply shook her head.

"Yeah, right. Blue, seriously. What were you looking at?" she asked him.

"I swear! It was like some kind of large hawk or something." Blue lied to her.

"No, Blue. It wasn't a hawk. Birds can't fly as high as Cloudsdale." Singer told him.

"Well done, Mr. Professor! You're so smart you couldn't deduce I was being sarcastic!" Blue mocked Singer, who simply sighed.

"Well then, what were you looking at?" he asked.

"Is that really your business?" Blue replied.

"Come on, dude. Tell us!" Dash said.

"Okay fine..." Blue facehoofed and sighed. "I was looking at the new mare who joined the school." he said, while pointing to Meadow. Dash and Singer smirked. Blue couldn't resist the urge to facehoof again.

"You have a crush on her?" Dash asked, grinning.

"Uh, maybe." Blue replied, with a hint of awkwardness in his voice, but then he snapped. "Hey! I know what goes on between Soarin' and you, Dash, so don't bother saying I have a crush on the new mare." Blue shouted, but kept his voice down enough so that Soarin' or anypony else who was in the cafeteria couldn't hear. Dash was quick to react.

"Look, please don't tell anypony..." Dash replied. "I do sort of have a little crush on Soarin'."

"I won't tell anypony, Dash. I actually do have a tiny crush on the new mare. Oh, and her name is Meadow." he said.

"Meadow? Cool name." Singer said.

"I agree. Her parents must be farmers or florists or something like that. I don't know, but it still sounds pretty cool." Dash replied.

"Yep. I like it too." Blue replied. "But I don't know if she'd like me..."

_Later on, at home..._

Blue stepped into the family home. The only other ponies at home were Summer, his mom, and his little brother, Firestorm, who was upstairs sleeping in his crib. Summer was in the kitchen, baking a fresh batch of hay fries, when Blue trotted into the kitchen.

"Hey mom!" Blue said.

"Hey, sweetie!" Summer replied, nuzzling him. "How was school today?" she asked.

"It was good, just as always. Mom, I need to talk to you about something." Blue said. Summer raised an eyebrow as she put the hay fries into the oven.

"What is it, son?" Summer asked.

"Well, uh, I met a new pony today at school. Uh, her name is Meadow and I think I might... like her." Blue said with a hint of awkwardness in his voice, not sure how his mom would react to that statement.

"Like her? As in as a friend? Or more?" Summer asked, with a grin slowly forming on her face.

"Well, mom. To be honest, I don't really know. I mean, I've only just met her today." Blue replied. "Maybe I should start off with just being her friend." he said.

"I agree. It's not a good idea to start a relationship too soon, Blue. What if you two find out you don't really like each other or aren't fit for each other?" Summer asked him. "It'd be best if you talk to her, start hanging out with her, share your interests and goals. But above that, I'm really happy for you that you found a potential special somepony." she said, smiling at Blue.

"Thanks for the advice, mom." Blue replied and nuzzled her. "When will the hay fries be ready?" he asked her.

"I just put a new batch of them into the oven right now, sweetie. I think they'll be ready in about 15-20 minutes." Summer replied.

"Alright, mom." Blue said and went off into the next room. At about 6:30 PM, Blue left the house and went to the Weather Factory downtown Cloudsdale, since he was still in the Weather Team's Junior Program. The sun was beginning to near the horizon as Blue walked through the town, but the buildings made it seem quite dark. Blue wasn't looking where he was going when he bumped into Meadow, the same filly from school.

"Oops, sorry." Blue said and helped her up. "I didn't see where I was going."

"It's okay. I thought I was going to take a little walk around the town to get to know my surroundings a little bit better." Meadow replied. "Blue, is it?" she asked.

" Yep." Blue replied. Wait... you just moved here?" he asked.

"Yep. I just moved here on Saturday from Baltimare." Meadow replied. "My dad wanted to take his business to Cloudsdale." she explained.

"You're from Baltimare?" Blue asked.

"Yep." Meadow replied, grinning.

"My family is originally from Vanhoover." Blue said.

"That's cool. I've only been there like, once or twice." Meadow said.

"Want me to show you around the town? I have a little while left before my shift on the Weather Team begins." Blue said.

"Sure! That'd be cool." Meadow replied.

"What have you seen so far?" Blue asked her.

"I've been to the Arena, to the Weather Factory, to Cloudsdale Park, so now all that's left is just the downtown area." Meadow replied.

"Alright, let's go then." Blue said as he begun his tour of downtown Cloudsdale. About half an hour later, the two ponies finished their tour.

"Did you like what you've seen, Meadow?" Blue asked.

"Yep. I sure did!" Meadow replied. "You've been an interesting tour guide." she said. Blue simply smiled.

"I know this town like the back of my hoof, Meadow." he said, before looking at a nearby clock. "Oh, dang. Listen, I gotta go. I'm almost late for my shift at the Weather Factory." Blue said.

"Bye, Blue." Meadow said.

"Oh, and one more thing. Do you want to hang out with me sometime?" Blue asked.

"Uh, yeah. Maybe. Okay?" Meadow replied.

"Sure." Blue said and smiled at her. She returned the grin as Blue trotted off towards the Weather Factory. It was just after 8 PM when Blue reached the Weather Factory. He went up to a platform and waited for orders from his boss. Eventually, the boss arrived.

"Ah, excellent timing, Blue Skye." he said. "Listen, I want you to clean the sky up over the arena. It's gotten really cloudy over there and the big Wonderbolts show starts in just over an hour. You think you can do that for me?" he asked.

"I think I can, sir." Blue simply replied and prepared himself to take off.

"Good. With this attitude to your job, you would make a great new addition to the Weather Team." the boss spoke to Blue and put his hoof on Blue's shoulder. "Alright, Blue. Go!" he said to Blue, who fluttered his wings and flew off towards the Arena. As Blue flew over towards the Arena, he noticed it's flashing lights in the distance. The Arena was often Blue's favorite place to go, especially when there was a Wonderbolts show on. Blue had seen around five shows in his lifetime, the last one being when he went with Rainbow Dash and her mom to see them perform. Blue would have gone today, but since he had to clear the skies up over the arena, he couldn't have had went. He eventually reached the Arena and was beginning to fly through the thick cloud cover which drifted above it. About 15 minutes later, Blue returned to the weather factory.

"Well done, Blue." his boss said. "Now, I'd like you to fly over downtown and clean up the clouds there. Okay?" Blue nodded and prepared to fly towards the downtown area. As Blue flew towards the downtown area, he kept thinking about Meadow. What if he does actually fall in love with her? Will he be a good coltfriend? Or will he begin the relationship too quickly? These were all questions that Blue kept thinking of during his flight Downtown. Blue felt very unpleasant contemplating these questions in his mind.

"Ugh, darn it!" Blue yelled and stopped flying. He stopped, hovering in mid-air and looked at the clouds drifting over the downtown area. _This mess will just have to wait until somepony else is sent to clean it all up..._ Blue thought to himself and dashed back towards the Weather Factory.

"You finished yet, Blue?" the boss asked him. "If you did, then that was record timing." Some colts in the distance snickered.

"Oh, crap..." Blue facehoofed. "Sorry, sir. I was just, distracted by something."

"Yeah, yeah." the boss replied. "Right. There's nothing out there, Blue. Only clouds."

"I wasn't distracted by-Ah, dang it. I was just thinking of something." Blue admitted.

"Thinking of anything in particular?" the boss asked. The same colts chuckled. Blue turned to face them, but turned back.

"No, sir. I was just-darn it. Fine." Blue sighed and flew off towards downtown and begun to clear up the clouds there. About five or so minutes later, Blue arrived back at the base.

"Now, you see? You cleared up the sky without any hassle." the boss said. "That's exactly what I'd expect from a good employee. A positive attitude to the job."

"Gee, thanks." Blue replied and trotted off. "See you later, sir." A while later, Blue returned home. Lightning Fast was already at home, reading the newspaper. Summer Skies was upstairs, tending to Firestorm.

"Hey, dad." Blue said and trotted off to sit beside him.

"Hey, son! How was your day?" Lightning asked.

"Uh, dad. Can I talk to you for a second?" Blue asked.

"Sure." Lightning replied.

"I uh, met this filly at school. Her name is uh, Meadow. She's new to Cloudsdale, and I think I might like her..." Blue said. Lightning's face slowly formed a grin.

"You like her?" he asked Blue, grinning.

"Uh, yeah... I mean, all I think of is her!" Blue replied.

"That's great, son!" Lightning said, smiling, although he noticed Blue's glare shortly after. "What's wrong?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Look, dad. I like her, but I honestly don't know what to do!" Blue shouted, but calmed himself down shortly after. "Tell me, what should I do to show that I like her?" he asked Lightning. Lightning thought to himself.

"Take things slowly, Blue." Lightning replied. "Don't rush into the relationship. Start with being a friend to Meadow. Alright?"

"Yeah." Blue replied and hugged Lightning. "Thanks for the advice dad... Although I'm still not too sure about whether it'll actually work out between us."


	6. Blue's Crush: Part II

The very next day...

Blue left home for school a bit earlier today, since he wanted to cool off after what went on yesterday. Along the way to school, Blue kept thinking about Meadow, and also about what his mom and dad said about not rushing into the relationship. He eventually managed to calm himself down and looked to see Meadow walking on the opposite side of the street. Blue trotted across the street to join her.

"Hey there." Blue said as he walked alongside Meadow.

"Oh, hey Blue. How's it going?" she asked.

"It's going good. What about you?" he replied.

"Yeah, it's my second day of school...and I'm quite excited!" Meadow replied with a sarcastic tone in her voice.

"You are?" Blue asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, to be honest... not necessarily." she replied. "I'm still pretty nervous about this school."

"Meadow, I've felt the same way as you do now when I first joined Cloudsdale Elementary." Blue explained. "And believe me, with the help of some friends I got used to it."

"Really?" Meadow asked.

"Yep. Say, uh... would you like to be my friend?" Blue asked.

"Of course I would." Meadow replied.

"You'd be my friend?" Blue asked.

"Yep. You seem like a cool guy." she said, smiling.

"You seem quite cool as well." Blue replied, only to receive a friendly smile from her. Blue grinned back, before bumping into a large, black-furred pegasus. A pegasus whom he recognized very well.

"Hey, watch-Blue?" the Pegasus asked.

"Hello, Thunder Clap." Blue replied. "Long time no see. And yeah, it is Blue."

"Who gave you that name?" Thunder Clap asked, chuckling. "It suits you well!"

"My parents, you idiot." Blue replied, with a less-than-pleased face. Meadow nudged for him to come, but Blue remained standing in his place. "Who gave you the name 'Thunder Clap'?" Blue asked. Thunder Clap glared at him.

"My parents did." Thunder replied. "Are you saying that my name is stupid?"

"Potentially." Blue said.

"Blue, come on. Let's go. There's no point in fighting him." Meadow said, urging Blue to move away from Thunder Clap.

"Oh. Who's that? Your marefriend?" Thunder Clap chuckled.

"No, we're just friends." Blue said, embarrassed. "I mean, we just met yesterday."

"Yeah, sure." Thunder Clap replied. Before the conversation between Blue and Thunder Clap could continue, the school bell rung. "Catch you later, Blue. And don't bother annoying me." he said and walked off, leaving only Meadow and Blue.

"Who was that guy?" Meadow asked.

"Oh, him? We knew each other since Middle School. He was a bully towards one of my closest friends..." Blue replied. "If he threatens you in any way, he's gonna regret it." Meadow simply smiled.

"You know what?" Meadow asked.

"What is it?"

"You're, uh... kind of cute." she awkwardly replied. Blue was lost for words.

"Thanks..." Blue replied.

"Hey, listen. I uh, better get to class and so should you..." Meadow said. "I'll catch you later, Blue. See ya!" she said, trotting off. Blue was left alone.

"She thinks I'm cute..." Blue said to himself. "She really thinks I'm cute." Blue's unsure face slowly begun to turn into a grin as he walked towards the entrance of the school.

At lunch...

Blue, Singer, Rainbow Dash sat beside each other, as usual, however this time joining them was Violet Petals, a certain Pegasus filly who had a crush on Singer, although never admitted it. Whenever Blue or Dash weren't around to hang out with Singer, Violet would play with him. While Singer and Violet were talking with each other and Dash, Blue was lost in thought. He was busy thinking about Meadow and what she said to him before she trotted off to her classroom. Nopony has ever called Blue cute before; he has been called "handsome" several times at family gatherings, but cute? Never. Blue even begun to have thoughts about asking her out on a date, but tried to block out those thoughts.

"So, what I'm trying to say is that Singer should concentrate more on athletics rather than his singing. I think he has a pretty bright future in athletics." Dash explained to Violet.

"Well, Dash. I think that Singer may be good at athletics, but his quirkiness, his voice... that's what truly stands out according to me." Violet countered. While Dash continued explaining to Violet that Singer should get more involved in sports, Blue simply looked at Meadow, who was sitting at the table opposite their's. Meadow turned to face him every once in a while, giving him a small smile, which he gladly returned. While Dash was continuing her talk with Violet about what Singer should do once they leave high school, Blue continued looking at Meadow. Due to Meadow's seating position, it looked as though Blue was looking at Dash.

"Well, Dash. I think Singer should do what he wants to do, not what you think he should do." Violet said.

"I'm not saying he should do athletics when he leaves school. It's merely a suggestion!" Dash explained, facehoofing at the end of her sentence.

"Oh, right.-Dash, look!" Violet gasped. Dash turned around and found herself facing Blue.

"Blue!" Dash shouted, lightly slapping him in the cheek.

"I'm sorry, Dash! I wasn't looking at you, I swear. I was looking at Meadow..." Blue explained.

"Yeah, sure..." Dash replied and turned around to notice her sitting there. "You must really like her, huh?"

"Yeah... I guess." Blue replied.

"Well then, talk to her! Tell her how you feel." Dash said.

"It seems like the only logical thing to do, but no Dash. I like to take things slow..." Blue replied. "I don't want to be too awkward." Meanwhile, at Meadow's table, she was eating a sandwich, when Thunder Clap came over.

"Hey there. You're looking fine...The name's Thunder Clap. Yours?" Thunder Clap said. Blue turned to face him and stood up.

"Be right back!" Blue said and trotted up to her table.

"Hey, Thunder Crap! Leave her alone!" Blue shouted. Meadow stood back behind him. Everyone in the cafeteria went silent and turned to face them.

"Did you just call me 'Thunder Crap'?" Thunder Clap asked.

"Blue, don't..." Meadow said.

"Uh... yeah. I just did." Blue replied and grinned, before being pulled up by the wing by Thunder Clap. "AUGHHH!" Blue screamed as the bully pulled on his wing.

"Dude, please! I'm sorry!" Blue shouted at Thunder Clap.

"Thunder Clap! Please!" Meadow pleaded.

"Why should I?" Thunder Clap asked. The principal then came over and noticed Thunder Clap holding Blue, who was trying to keep himself from screaming in pain, by his wing.

"Because I said so." the principal replied, with a stern face. "Thunder Clap, a word please." he said. Thunder Clap replied by dropping Blue onto the floor. Singer, Rainbow Dash and Violet trotted over to him, while Meadow helped him up. Within moments, the entire cafeteria stopped looking at them and they all returned to their own things.

"You alright Blue?" she asked.

"Yeah... I think I am, but my wing..." he said, turning his head to face his bruised wing, and gently trying to move it. "GAAHH..."

"Is it broken?!" cried Dash.

"No, no. I don't think it really is." Blue explained. "I think he's just pulled a muscle. I'll be alright. I just... had to take a stand against him..." he said.

"That was very brave of you, Blue." Violet said. Meadow simply smiled.

"You did that for me?" she asked.

"Yeah, I thought he was giving you trouble..." Blue replied. Meadow replied with a reaction Blue did not expect from her; she gave him a kiss on the cheek. Blue's jaw dropped and he blushed furiously.

"Oops... sorry." she said. "I guess... you didn't... expect that, huh?" she asked. "Well, thanks for standing up for me."

"It's not... that I didn't expect it, but I've never been kissed before." Blue stammered.

"Me neither." replied Meadow. They both made eye contact and looked at each other and chuckled.

"Ugh, enough of this mushy stuff!" Dash complained. "Lunch is almost over."

"Yeah, I guess." said Singer. "See you guys. Come on, Violet." Violet waved back and followed after Singer, only to be joined by Dash, leaving Blue and Meadow standing between the two tables.

"So, Meadow?" Blue asked. "Are we still friends... or are we more?"

"Uh, I... want us to be friends, Blue. I think you're cute and all, but I still don't really know if I'm ready for the next step." she explained.

"I can understand that. Me neither, to be honest. " Blue said. "So, you uh, want to hang out after school?"

"Sure. I'll just have to talk to my mom and dad about it." Meadow explained. "Oh, and by the way, we better go. Lunch is almost over." She then trotted off to join Dash and the others. Blue again, was dumbfounded. He had no idea that this particular filly actually thought that he was cute. Blue then decided to join the rest of the group and follow them to class.

After school...

A few hours after school, Blue left home to head to the park, where he was supposed to meet up with Meadow. Despite it being only the end of summer, already it begun to feel much cooler in the afternoons than it usually is, but the weather didn't stop him from going to meet his new friend. Along the way, he kept thinking about what Meadow had said about him. Was he really what she said he was? Blue didn't really know, but he tried to keep those thoughts at bay for now. Eventually, he reached the park and noticed Meadow hanging around on the teeter-totter.

"Hey." Blue said.

"Hey, Blue." Meadow replied. "So, why are we here exactly?" she asked.

"I thought we could hang out together." Blue replied.

"Uh, okay..." Meadow said, although she was pretty unsure. "What can we do in the park but?" she asked.

"I don't know..." Blue replied. "Maybe we can just talk and stuff." he said and led her to a bench, where they sat down at. The park wasn't empty, but there weren't many ponies in that specific area, so Blue and Meadow can talk with each other in peace.

"Yeah, but what?" Meadow asked.

"Uh, I don't know. Anything you want." Blue replied. "What was life back in Baltimare like?" he asked her.

"It was, well, nice, but I didn't really enjoy city life to be honest." Meadow replied. "Neither did my parents. So, my dad moved his business to Cloudsdale and we came with him." she explained. "I'll ask you the same question, Blue. What's it like living in Cloudsdale?" she asked.

"It's quite calm and peaceful and there's lots of open spaces for ponies to fly around." Blue explained. "Trust me, a week or two and you'll get used to living here. You're pretty nervous, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, I kind of am." Meadow explained. "It's like the first day of elementary school all over again, but only in a new place."

"I know how you feel." Blue said. "When I joined Cloudsdale Elementary, I was very nervous. I had no idea whether I was going to do good in my lessons and make any friends." he explained. "But my friend helped me to calm myself. Sadly, he probably lives in some kind of large mansion in Canterlot."

"Oh." Meadow said. "He moved?"

"Yep." Blue replied. "His dad's some kind of businesspony. I get to visit him once every two weeks."

"Right." Meadow said. "So, you think I can get settled in here without any hassle?"

"Yep. All you need is a friend to help you fit in." Blue explained. "Maybe I can help." he suggested.

"If you want." Meadow replied. "You know, you're probably the realest friend I have." she said.

"Really? What about those fillies that sit beside you at lunch?" Blue asked.

"Well, them? They hang out with me only at lunch." Meadow explained. "So, I get pretty lonely after school." Blue felt sorry for Meadow and felt obliged to put his wing around her.

"I'll be your friend, Meadow. You don't have to sit beside them all the time if you don't like them. I'll be a better friend than they'll be." Blue replied and turned to give her a smile, which she returned.

The next day...

It was lunchtime again, however this time, Blue was sitting alone with Meadow, while the rest of his friends were sitting at the other table. The two were joking together and generally enjoying each other's company, while Dash was sitting at the other table, along with Singer. She turned her attention several times to look at Blue and Meadow talking to each other.

"Hey, Dash." Singer went. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah." Dash replied. "I'm fine... I'm just wondering why Blue isn't here sitting with us."

"Relax, Dash. He's just enjoying Meadow's company and she's enjoying his." Singer explained.

"But still, he should be here, talking with us, not with Meadow." Dash said. "I'm starting to think that Blue doesn't want to be our friend any more."

"Look, Dash. Just because Blue is spending time with Meadow more now doesn't mean he's going to stop being our friend." Singer explained. "I mean, we've been good friends with each other for over four years and it doesn't look like Blue wants to stop being our friend."

"Well, still..." Dash said. "I'm just nervous. Should I go talk to him?" she asked.

"Your choice." Singer replied, shrugging. Dash stood up and walked over to Blue's table.

"Hi Dash." Blue replied. "Everything the matter?" he asked.

"No, it's fine. I was just gonna ask if you can sit beside us." Dash said.

"Sorry, Dashie. Not today. I'm trying to help Meadow fit into the school." Blue explained.

"Alright then." Dash replied. "When'll you sit beside us again?" she asked.

"When I finish helping Meadow. I'm thinking... Wednesday or Thursday." Blue replied.

"Okay." Dash said and went back to her seat.

"What did he say?" asked Singer.

"He said that he'll sit beside us once Meadow gets comfortable with the school, or about Wednesday or Thursday." Dash explained and the two returned to their conversation about Singer's future aspirations. On the other hoof, Blue and Meadow continued their conversation about Blue's early life.

"So, you really learnt how to fly at age five?" Meadow asked.

"Yep. I realize it must be different in Baltimare, but here in Cloudsdale, you can learn to fly from age five." Blue replied.

"And you're training to be a weather pony?" asked. Blue simply nodded.

"Exactly. Either that or I'm becoming a Royal Guard." Blue replied. "What do you wanna be?" he asked.

"To be honest, I don't really know..." Meadow explained. "I just want to have a good job when I grow up." she replied.

"If you want, you should enlist in the Weather Team." Blue said. "I mean, my mom and dad are working there and-" Blue was cut off by a light tapping on his back. It was Thunder Clap. Blue turned around, only to notice Thunder Clap standing behind Meadow, whom he also tapped.

"Hello-Thunder Clap?" Meadow gasped.

"Hey, if you're uh, free tonight, would you like to go out with me?" Thunder Clap asked.

"No." Meadow replied. "I mean-"

"Stay away from her." Blue said to Thunder Clap.

"Or what?" he replied, staring down into Blue's face.

"Or, uh... I-I'll mince...you?" Blue replied, before being pulled by his wings and held in mid-air. Meadow gasped, while the entire cafeteria turned to face them.

"Hey, let go of me!" he cried.

"This is what foolish little colts like you get when they try to stand up to me and make fun of my name. Meadow is my mare, not yours. I'd be a far better coltfriend than you'd ever be. " Thunder Clap said and prepared to punch Blue.

"Who says I'm your mare?" Meadow countered.

"Look, dude. I don't want any trouble. Just leave us alone." Blue said.

"So you do like each other?" Thunder Clap said, with a grin slowly forming on his face. Blue and Meadow turned to look at each other and blushed.

"No, we're just...friends." Meadow said, blushing. "Now, please. Drop him."

"Yeah, you do. Don't bother hiding it!" Thunder Clap said and dropped Blue onto the floor, who got up a moment later.

"Look, Thunder Clap. You leave us alone, alright?" Blue said.

"No, I won't leave you alone Blue." Thunder Clap replied, and came over to Blue. He pulled out his hoof and prepared to punch Blue in the face, when the principal came over and noticed the two fighting.

"Thunder Clap? Blue Skye?" the principal asked. "Come with me."

"Nice going, Thunder Clap. You got us both in trouble." Blue said.

"Shut up, will you?" Thunder Clap responded. After the talk with the principal, Thunder Clap was placed in detention, while Blue was sent back to class. He made it just in time to his class before the bell rang and sat down beside Meadow.

"Hey." Blue said.

"Hey Blue. So, how did it go?" she asked.

"It went good. Thunder Clap is in detention... and yeah." Blue simply replied.

"I just wanted to thank you for sticking up for me..." she explained.

"Hey, it's fine. You don't have to thank me. I couldn't let him taunt you like that." Blue explained. "And plus, I want to ask you a... little question." he said.

"Sure. What is it?" Meadow asked.

"Would you... like to go out with me?" he asked.

"Go out with you, as in, like a date?" she asked.

"Well, sort of." Blue replied.

"Of course." Meadow replied and smiled at Blue, who calmed down and returned the smile.

"I was thinking next week. Monday evening most likely." Blue explained.

"Why Monday evening?" Meadow asked.

"I wanted to take you to the Wonderbolts' show. It's next Monday at 6:30 PM." Blue explained to Meadow, who slowly begun to grin.

"You're taking me to a Wonderbolts' show?" Meadow asked.

"Yep." Blue replied.

"Thank you! I've always wanted to see them!" Meadow replied. "Thank you so much Blue." she said, giving him a tight, but short hug, which he gladly accepted.

"You're welcome, Meadow." he replied.

That same evening, Blue returned home joyful.

"Hey, sweetie!" Summer said, who was holding Firestorm in one of her hooves. "My, my. You're happy today."

"Yeah, hey mom." Blue replied and ruffled Firestorm's mane, only to receive giggles. "Hey, little bro. And yeah, I am pretty happy today. I actually have something important to say." he explained.

"What is it, son?" Summer asked.

"I've asked... Meadow... out on a date." Blue explained.

"That's great son! I'm so happy for you." Summer replied. "When is the date?" she asked.

"I'm wanting to take her to the Wonderbolts show next week." Blue replied. "Who knows? Maybe she'll enjoy it."

"My son has a marefriend... I'm so proud of you!" Summer said and nuzzled Blue, who blushed furiously.

"Mom!" he shouted. "I'm still not sure whether it'll work between us or not."

"You have to hope for the best, Blue." she replied.

"Yeah, I guess..." Blue said.

"A date?" Firestorm asked.

"Yeah, little bro. It's like, a really special day when two special someponies get together and spend their time together." Blue explained. "And for me, that day will be next Monday evening. I just hope it impresses her somehow." After eating his dinner, Blue went upstairs to his room and opened a notepad, which served as his diary. As Blue begun to write down his diary entry, he begun to think about the day.

_Dear diary,_

_Today, my friendship with Meadow Breeze blossomed into something else; I asked her out on a date. I hope I can somehow impress her on the date and make sure our relationship lasts. Even if it doesn't work out, I also hope we can both still stay friends. _

_~ Blue Skye_


	7. First Date

The next Monday...

It was a few hours after school and Blue was busy preparing himself for his first date with Meadow. He combed his mane up nicely and put on a Wonderbolts' t-shirt that his dad bought him a few weeks ago. He was still highly nervous about the date but tried to stay calm about it. Just then, Firestorm, his younger brother walked into his room.

"Hey, big bro. Whatcha doing?" he asked.

"Hey, Firestorm." Blue replied. "I'm just getting ready for my date."

"Can I come with you?" Firestorm asked.

"No, sorry. It's only me and my special somepony." Blue explained.

Firestorm nodded understandingly, but then trotted up to Blue and jumped on his back.

"Woah!" Blue yelled.

"I'm coming with you! I'm coming with you!" he shouted, jumping up and down on Blue's back.

"No, you're not!" Blue said. "If it wasn't me and my special somepony, I'd gladly take you." Just then, Summer Skies came into the room and noticed Firestorm jumping on Blue's shoulders.

"There there now, Firestorm." she said, taking him off Blue's shoulders and placing him down on the floor.

"Mommy, I wanna go but Blue isn't letting me come!" Firestorm said. Blue simply facehoofed as he watched his little brother explain everything to their mom. So far, the friendship between the two siblings hasn't gone as well as Blue had expected. Although Blue had tried to be a good big brother, Firestorm had proven to be quite a hoof-ful at times.

"Sweetie, Blue can't let you come because it's just him and his marefriend." Summer explained to Firestorm and nuzzled him. "Hm... Maybe I could take you to the park tomorrow?"

"Yay! The park! Thanks mommy!" Firestorm said and hugged her. Summer simply chuckled and smiled at her youngest son, who trotted downstairs, before turning back to face Blue.

"You've grown so much, Blue... I remember back when you were Firestorm's age and you were trotting around the house shouting "Mommy, daddy, play!"" Summer said and chuckled lightly. Blue's grinned. "I remember that like it was just yesterday, Blue. And now look how time flies. You're now fourteen, you're in the weather factory and you're beginning to date. You're growing up, son. I'm so proud of you." she said and nuzzled Blue. "My Blue."

"Thanks mom..." he said and hugged Summer. Firestorm turned to face Blue and stuck out his tongue at him.

"It's alright, son. Now, I believe you've got a date to go on." Summer said and smiled at him.

"I know... I just hope it goes well." Blue said.

"I'm sure it will. Just don't worry and have fun." Summer replied and gave him a reassuring wink.

"I guess... I better go now." Blue said and turned to look at a clock hanging on his wall. "The show begins in, like 25 minutes and the arena is on the other side of town."

"Alright son. Have fun and be safe." Summer said.

"Will do, mom." Blue replied and flew out of the house towards the arena.

_At the arena..._

Blue landed in front of the arena. Ponies from all over Cloudsdale were gathering to watch the Wonderbolts perform. Amongst the gathering crowd stood Meadow, with two older ponies beside her. The stallion was a light-green pegasus with an orange mane, while the mare was a very white-blue color. She had a purple mane. Blue trotted up to meet Meadow and her parents.

"Hey, Meadow! Glad you could make it." Blue said.

"Yeah, I'm quite happy as well." Meadow replied. Suddenly, the larger stallion spoke up.

"You must be Blue." he said.

"Uh, yes. I am. Hello there, sir." Blue awkwardly replied.

"He he he. No need to call me "sir". I'm Meadow's father, Grasslands." he said, extending his hoof, which Blue gladly shook.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Grasslands." Blue said.

"And I'm Meadow's mother, Icy Breeze." the mare said.

"Nice to meet you as well, Mrs. Breeze." he replied, extending his hoof, which she shook.

"You're such a well-mannered colt, Blue." Icy said.

"I try to be, ma'am." Blue replied.

"I have a feeling you'll be a great coltfriend to Meadow." Icy said. Blue and Meadow turned to face each other and blushed. Suddenly, the door to the arena opened and the crowd of Pegasi began to pour in.

"Have fun you two!" Icy said and waved to her daughter.

"And stay safe!" Grasslands shouted at them.

"We will, mom, dad!" Meadow replied.

"We will, don't worry!" Blue said as they walked into the arena. After paying for both their tickets and buying some snacks, Blue led Meadow to two seats near the top of the stand.

"I'm so excited, Blue. I've never seen them up close before..." Meadow said.

"It's gonna be cool..." Blue replied. "Want a hay fry?" he asked, passing her one.

"No, thanks. Let's save them for the show." Meadow replied.

"I agree..." Blue said and put the box of hay fries down between them two. After a few minutes, the entire arena was filled up with ponies waiting for the Wonderbolts' show to begin. Suddenly, the announcer's voice boomed through the speakers.

"Mares and gentlecolts!" he said. "Welcome to the Cloudsdale Arena on this fine Cloudsdale evening! And now, we proudly present, for your entertainment... the Wonderbolts!" Suddenly, about five bolts of multi-colored lightning shot out of nowhere and flew around the arena. Meadow looked especially captivated as she watched the lightning bolts fly around. The bolts then slowed down, revealing five pegasus ponies. Everypony, including Blue and Meadow begun to clap.

"Impressed yet?" Blue asked.

"Yep..." Meadow replied and continued looking at the Wonderbolts performing. Blue looked at her as she looked at the Wonderbolts flying around the Arena and could only smile at her. Suddenly Blue thought to himself.

[i]Maybe this dating thing will work out between us after all...[/i] Blue thought to himself. Already he begun to get more confident about dating Meadow. As time passed, he gradually begun to feel more comfortable about sitting beside her. An hour later, the Wonderbolts were preparing for their final aerial stunt of the night, and despite the wind, conditions seemed favorable for the stunt. Since Cloudsdale was a city built in the clouds, wind was not an unusual occurrence, but it proved to be a challenge at times to fly through it, especially for the Wonderbolts.

"Alright, Blazin' Wings! Are you ready? On the count of ten, we all fly down there towards the roof of the Arena and then, we fly back up before we go into it. That's definitely gonna create a massive rainboom." the captain of the Wonderbolts, Blitz Fury said.

"Sure thing, boss!" Blazin' replied. "You all ready?" he shouted to the four other Wonderbolts hovering behind him.

"Yep." they all replied.

"Excellent. Three, two, one... go!" Blitz Fury shouted and before he knew it, he was pushed backwards by the Wonderbolts, who flew downwards towards the Arena.

_Back in the arena..._

Everypony's eyes turned to look at a large, multi-colored lightning bolt coming down towards the Arena at nearly supersonic speeds. Blue's jaws dropped as he watched it light up the sky.

"What do you think is going to happen?" asked Meadow.

"Well, uh, I don't know, to be honest. I've never seen this stunt before..." Blue explained.

"Let's just hope it goes good..." Meadow said and cuddled up against Blue, who wrapped his wing around her. Just seconds later, the Wonderbolts managed to reach the roof, before rapidly flying back up. Suddenly, a huge flash erupted in the sky and five large rainbow discs emerged from it. The ponies gathered in the Arena gasped and looked at the rainbow discs emerging. They have just witnessed a sonic rainboom, five of them actually. After a little while, the rainbooms faded out and the ponies gathered could only clap in astonishment.

"Wow..." Blue said to himself.

"I agree... that was incredible." Meadow said and chuckled. "I honestly was not expecting that..."

"Me neither." Blue replied and smiled at her. "Let's go home." Meadow simply smiled at him. After leaving the arena, the two ponies walked alongside each other.

"Thank you so much Blue." Meadow said. "I honestly didn't expect that somepony would ever take me to see the Wonderbolts..."

"My pleasure." Blue replied. "Wait, have you seriously never been to a Wonderbolts show in Baltimare?" he asked.

"I'm afraid not." Meadow replied. "The Baltimare Arena is still under construction... so, I never managed to go." she explained.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Meadow. So, do you ever want to go again?" Blue asked.

"Of course." Meadow replied and smiled at him. "Thank you Blue..." she said and gave him a kiss on the lips. As she kissed him, Blue felt as though time has slowed down. They were lost in their own little world and didn't notice Grasslands and Icy Breeze coming towards them.

"My my..." Icy said and smiled at the two kissing. Suddenly, they stopped and turned around to notice Meadow's parents standing there.

"Uh mom..." Meadow said awkwardly.

"You're growing up, Meadow..." Grasslands said, grinning. "My little filly is growing up."

"Yeah, dad." she said.

"Did you two enjoy yourselves?" Icy asked.

"Of course we did! This show was incredible!" Meadow explained. Grasslands and Icy Breeze smiled at their daughter.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves." Grasslands said. "And thank you Blue for looking after Meadow."

"My pleasure, Mr. Grasslands." Blue said and turned to look at Meadow who smiled at him.

"I'm sorry we can't stay longer Blue, but we have to go back home." Icy said.

"Bye Blue." Meadow said.

"Bye Meadow. When do you want to go out again?" Blue asked.

"Hm... Friday night, maybe?" she said and turned to face her mom and dad, who smiled at her.

"Alright then. Friday night it is." Blue said. "Good night, Meadow."

"Good night Blue. See you tomorrow." she replied and smiled at him. Moments later, the family of Pegasi flew off, leaving Blue standing in front of the arena. Everypony was already gone, leaving Blue all alone. Blue smiled to himself as he prepared to take off for home.

"Hey there!" said a voice. Blue turned around to face where the voice came from.

"Who's there?" he asked. Suddenly, a blue pegasus mare with a rainbow mane jumped out of the cloud bushes, with a less-than-pleased look on her face. It was Rainbow Dash.

"Hey Dash. Did you enjoy the Wonderbolts show?" Blue asked.

"Yeah, I did. And don't you "Hey Dash" me, Blue." she replied.

"What's wrong?" Blue asked.

"Do you really wanna know?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yeah, come on, I'm your friend." Blue replied.

"You, my friend? Oh, no." Dash explained. Blue felt a bit hurt at Rainbow Dash's comment.

"Hey! I thought we were friends..." Blue explained.

"If you're really my friend, you'd spend more time with me and Singer..." Rainbow Dash said.

"Uh.." Blue mumbled. He didn't really know how to react to the situation.

"I actually liked you... until the new filly came to school and you begun to spend time with her!" Dash shouted.

"Look! What was I supposed to do? Just leave her like that?" Blue shouted. "I didn't think so. And by the way, her name is Meadow."

"Look. If you really don't want to spend time with me and Singer, you don't have to. I'm not gonna force you, but I thought we were friends..." Dash replied.

"We are!" Blue yelled.

"No, Blue. We can't be." Dash replied. "Not anymore..." Blue sighed.

"Good night, Dash. It was nice talking to you..." Blue said.

"See you tomorrow at school..." Dash replied and both Pegasi were off their own ways. About 10 minutes later, Blue landed at his own home. He walked into the house, head held low.

"Hey sweetie!" Summer said as she saw her colt walk into the house. "How did the date go? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, mom. The date went well..." Blue said with an angry tone in his voice.

"Mommy, Blue is angry!" Firestorm said, who was playing in the living room with some toys.

"Blue, is everything alright?" Summer asked. "You don't look so good."

"I'm angry..." Blue replied. "At Rainbow Dash."

"At Rainbow Dash?" Summer asked. "What's going on? I thought you two were friends..."

"I thought so too, but she doesn't want to because I hang out with Meadow more..." Blue explained. "What should I do?" he asked.

"Hm... maybe you should start hanging out with Dash and Singer a bit more and maybe include Meadow in your group?" Summer suggested.

"Maybe, although I'm not too sure Dash would even bother talking to me after our little... confrontation today." Blue replied.

"You should try, son." Summer said. "You should make amends with Rainbow Dash."

"I don't know, mom... I'll see what I can do." Blue replied. After eating his supper, Blue went upstairs to his room and sat down at his desk. He took out his notepad and flipped open a page, where he begun to write down what happened during the day.

_**Dear diary,**_

_**Today I passed another milestone in life. I went on my first date with the mare of my dreams, Meadow Breeze, to the Wonderbolts Arena. We both enjoyed ourselves, but after Meadow left, I had a little confrontation with a friend. Rainbow Dash, who got angry at me for hanging out with Meadow more than with her and Singer. Now that I think about it, it's actually my fault for not paying enough attention to my friends... I hope I can be a better friend to Rainbow and Singer, while also being a good coltfriend to Meadow. I care about all three of them, I just don't know who to choose...**_

_**~ Blue Skye**_


	8. A Day With Firestorm

July 22, 2005

Blue lay on a small, but comfortable sofa in his room. It was a fairly hot day in Cloudsdale, and while Blue enjoyed warm weather, today was a little bit too hot for him. He turned to look at a thermometer hanging on one of his walls and looked at the temperature. The thermometer read at 102 degrees, which made it very humid and unpleasant in the house. The air conditioning was turned on, but even that didn't do much against the heat.

"Blue, can you come downstairs please?" a voice called from the living room. It was Summer Skies, who was preparing to leave with Lightning Fast for a date night in Canterlot, as it was their wedding anniversary. _Ugh... _Blue groaned and slowly pulled himself up and reluctantly walked downstairs.

"Hey mom..." Blue mumbled as he entered the living room. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Me and your dad are going to Canterlot for the day, sweetie. Can you look after Firestorm while we're gone?" Summer asked.

"Uh, sure." Blue replied and turned to look outside, to notice Firestorm jumping up and down on the trampoline.

"Excellent! We'll be back by 9 PM, alright son?" Lightning said.

"Sure thing, dad. He'll be no trouble at all..." Blue replied, feeling a bit nervous about foalsitting Firestorm.

"I'm sure you both will be fine. See you later, sweetie!" Summer said and walked out of the door.

"Bye son. We'll be back at night!" Lightning said and followed her.

"Bye guys..." Blue replied and went outside to see Firestorm continuing to play on the trampoline.

"Okay, little bro. Mom and dad have left me in charge of the house, okay?" Blue said. "That means you listen to me, alright?"

"Okay..." Firestorm replied. "Do you wanna come on and jump?" he asked.

"No thanks." Blue replied. "Hm... I think I have a good idea for what we can do today." he said. "I'm going to teach you how to fly, little bro."

"You are?" Firestorm asked, with a grin slowly forming on his face. Firestorm begun to learn to fly at around Blue's age, but after Lightning suffered a severe wing injury during a bad lightning storm at work, Firestorm didn't manage to fully learn how to fly.

"Sure." Blue replied.

"Okay." Firestorm said. "When are we going?"

"We can go now if you want." Blue replied.

"No, thanks. We'll go later, alright?" Firestorm said.

"Sure thing. So, what do you wanna do now?" Blue asked.

"Hide-n-seek!" Firestorm enthusiastically replied. Blue chuckled to himself. Although he hasn't played hide-n'-seek in a while, Blue still remembered the game from elementary school.

"Alright then, little bro. You're seeking." Blue smirked.

"Oh, you're so on..." Firestorm replied and gave him a sly grin. Blue trotted to hide in some large cloud bushes towards the end of their backyard. He jumped into the cloud bushes and peered out through a small gap between two clouds to notice Firestorm looking around the backyard. He chuckled to himself as he watched Firestorm look all over the backyard in search for Blue. Eventually, Blue's giggling got the better of him and he rolled out of the cloud bushes into plain sight.

"Ah, found you..." Firestorm said and grinned as he looked over Blue. "Now, it's your turn to seek. I bet you'll never find me."

"We'll see about that." Blue countered. Firestorm giggled and trotted away as Blue turned to face the wall of the house. He covered his eyes and begun to count to twenty. After Blue finished counting he uncovered his eyes and turned away from the wall. _Hm... where is Firestorm? _Blue thought to himself. He then flew up into the air and landed on the top of the chimney. From there, he had a far better view of the garden and noticed something trotting into the cloud bushes near the neighbor's backyard. Blue simply smirked and flew back down into the backyard. Blue looked around and noticed a pair of eyes peeking out of the cloud layer. He chuckled to himself and trotted over to the clouds and pulled them away, revealing Firestorm.

"Who says I won't find you?" Blue asked, with a grin on his face.

"Uh, yeah... I'm not the best at hiding." Firestorm replied.

"Me neither, little bro. Did you enjoy our little game?" Blue asked.

"Yep!" Firestorm replied. "Wanna play again?" he asked.

"Not now, little bro." Blue replied. "It's getting a little bit too hot outside..." he said, and turned to face a thermometer hanging on the wall. It was still unbearably hot, so the best way to cool off was to go get a drink.

"Hey, Firestorm. Do you want to get something to drink and maybe go to the park later on?" Blue asked.

"Okay... but why later on?" Firestorm replied.

"Because I said so, alright? It's too hot outside, plus there'll be less ponies there later on." Blue said, with a firm voice.

"But, big bro... I want to go now..." Firestorm pleaded.

"No..." Blue replied, glaring at Firestorm.

"Come on! Let's get something to drink and go to the park. I wanna learn how to fly." Firestorm said.

"Dude! We can't go to the park until it cools down a bit, okay?!" Blue replied, now agitated. Firestorm sighed in defeat.

"Alright then, let's go home." he said and followed Blue into the house. After both of them took a glass of lemonade from the kitchen, they sat down in the living room and drank it.

"So... Firestorm. Maybe I should ask dad if he should sign you up for Wonderbolts' Academy..." Blue said.

"Nah... I don't want to be a famous Wonderbolt." Firestorm replied.

"Well then, who do you want to be?" Blue asked.

"Hm... I want to be a Royal Guard when I grow up..." Firestorm said.

"Seriously?" Blue asked. "Don't you want to have a more... athletic job, like being a weather pony, instead of standing in one place all day like a statue, doing nothing?"

"Blue... Royal guards do more than just stand around..." Firestorm lectured him. "Mom and dad say that they protect the princesses and Equestria in general. I want to do just that."

"Okay. I'm not the one to decide who you'll be when you're older." Blue said.

"What about you?" Firestorm asked. "Who do you want to be when you leave school?"

"Hm... I always wanted to be a weather pony... but I still don't know whether it's the best idea." Blue explained. "I mean, it's not the best job out there, but I always wanted to prove myself to mom and dad... I have no idea whether I'll amount to what they are."

"We'll see..." Firestorm said. "Can we go to the park now?" he asked. Blue facehoofed.

"Look... Fine." Blue groaned. "Let's go." he said. Firestorm trotted after Blue, who simply walked down the road to the park. Along the way, Blue bumped into Meadow.

"Oh, sorry... I didn't see you there, Meadow." Blue said and helped her up. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Blue. It's nothing, and thanks for helping me up." she explained and gave him a peck on the cheek. Firestorm giggled as he watched his older brother blush.

"So, how's your weekend so far, Meadow?" Blue asked.

"It's not really too bad. I'm going to leave for Baltimare soon as I'm visiting my grandma there. She's sick with the feather flu." Meadow explained.

"Oh, okay... Hope she gets well..." Blue said.

"Thanks... I better go now. See you later, Bluey..." Meadow said and trotted off towards her home. Blue smiled as he watched his marefriend trot away, but he was snapped out of it by a giggling Firestorm.

"What's so funny?" Blue asked.

"She...she kissed you!" Firestorm giggled. "That's so disgusting..."

"Yeah, you'll get a marefriend as well sometime in the future and then you'll know how it feels to be kissed." Blue explained, with a smile on his face. Firestorm cringed.

"Eww! That's disgusting. I'm not kissing anypony, nor am I ever getting a marefriend." Firestorm explained. Blue grinned.

"Only time will tell, little bro." he said.

"I said-" Firestorm tried to prove his point, but was stopped by Blue.

"Let's just go to the park. If we continue talking like this, we'll never get there." Blue said. Firestorm sighed.

"I agree... How warm is it right now?" Firestorm asked, wiping some sweat off his face with his hoof.

"102 degrees." Blue said. "I'll buy you some ice cream if you want."

"Alright! Ice cream." Firestorm said. Blue walked up to the ice cram stall and pulled out two bits.

"What ice cream do you want, Firestorm?" Blue asked his little brother, who was standing beside him, looking at the different flavors of it.

"I want a vanilla ice cream for now..." Firestorm said.

"For now?" Blue replied, bewildered.

"Yep. We might come back here again..." Firestorm said with a smirk. Blue facehoofed.

"Who says we'll come back here again, Firestorm?" Blue countered.

"Uh... are you taking the vanilla ice cream?" the mare running the stall asked.

"Uh, yes, sorry..." Blue replied. "How much?"

"1 bit, please." the mare said and passed Blue the ice cream. Blue then gave her the money and motioned for Firestorm to follow him.

"Wait!" shouted Firestorm. "I also want a waffle!" Blue facehoofed and went back to the ice cream stall.

"1 waffle please." Blue said, now irritated.

"Here you go. That'll be one bit." the mare running the stall said. Blue handed her over the bit and she gave him the waffle. Blue passed it to Firestorm.

"Here you go... Thanks for wasting the spending money I bought with me..." Blue said with a sigh.

"You're welcome." Firestorm replied.

"Uh... You're so rude." Blue complained.

"Blue, you can't tell me what to do. Only mom or dad can." Firestorm said, grinning.

"But still, I'm older than you... so, you have to listen to me as well." Blue replied with a grin of his own.

"Yeah, sure..." Firestorm said. "So... are we just going to stand here or are we going to the park?" Firestorm asked.

"Let's go to the park then..." Blue replied, with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Good idea. I'll race you there!" Firestorm said. Blue sighed. Firestorm trotted away towards the park entrance and Blue trotted after him. After racing to the park (with Blue narrowly winning, much to Firestorm's dismay) the two siblings went to an open cloud field at the far end of the park, where Blue was going to teach Firestorm how to fly.

"Okay, Firestorm... I want you to stand here..." Blue said and motioned for Firestorm to stand before a wall.

"Why here?" he asked.

"You'll have more space to take off..." Blue explained. "Now, I want you to trot down this field, and when you pick up enough speed, begin to flutter your wings. Alright?" Blue asked.

"When do I pick up enough speed?" Firestorm asked.

"When I say so, alright?" Blue said. "Alright then. Are you ready?"

"I think so..." Firestorm said and stood in position and prepared himself for taking off.

"Alright. Go!" Blue yelled. With some reluctance, Firestorm managed to trot down the cloud field and slowly begun to increase speed. After a few moments, he reached his maximum speed.

"Flutter your wings!" Blue yelled from a distance. Firestorm did as he was asked, but dropped down onto the cloud layer shortly after.

"Ugh... that was horrible." Firestorm complained.

"No it wasn't. You just need to learn to balance yourself during flight and concentrate. Why don't you try again?" Blue suggested.

"Sure thing..." Firestorm said and slowly got up. He then prepared himself for takeoff again.

"Go!" Blue shouted. Firestorm trotted down the field and fluttered his wings after reaching a high enough speed. This time, he managed to pull up several feet off the ground and remained airborne for a few seconds before dropping back down onto the cloud layer.

"That was better..." Blue said. "Much better. Do you want to go again?" he asked.

"Sure thing!" Firestorm replied and prepared himself to fly again. Again, he flew a few feet off the cloud layer, before dropping back down.

"That was pretty good so far... Now let's see if you can change direction." Blue said.

"Change direction? But how?" Firestorm asked.

"When you're flying, you turn your body in a different direction. It's as simple as that." Blue explained.

"Oh..." Firestorm said.

"Ready?" Blue asked.

"Yep. I am." Firestorm said and prepared himself to fly.

"Go!" Blue shouted. Immediately, Firestorm trotted down the cloud field and flew upwards. He then flapped his wings repeatedly and hovered several feet above the ground. As he looked around, he saw clouds developing over Cloudsdale. These clouds were dark and stormy-looking, which meant Firestorm had to land safely and go back home with Blue.

"Turn!" Blue shouted from the ground. Firestorm did as he was asked and made a 90-degree turn, before landing. Firestorm then trotted back to Blue, who was looking at the clouds.

"Woah there... Slow down." Blue said, stopping Firestorm with his wings. "We better get home soon."

"What's happening to the weather, Blue?" Firestorm asked.

"It usually happens when it gets too warm. The weather ponies have to create some form of rain or we'll have a drought on our hooves." Blue explained. "And right now... it looks as though it's going to storm." Soon, a rumble of thunder echoed through the park. Firestorm jumped in fear and hid beneath Blue's wing.

"There there now... it's just thunder. There's nothing to be afraid of." Blue explained. "I'm here, little bro. It's gonna be fine."

"Why did-why did it have to storm, Blue?" Firestorm asked, still shivering in fear.

"Well, uh, a storm is the quickest way of getting water to dry areas of Equestria, Firestorm. I mean, rain is pretty persistent, and since storms can last quite a short amount of time, it's better to have it storm." Blue explained.

"So, why doesn't it storm all the time?" Firestorm asked.

"Well, because... see, a storm requires lots of heat to form, and since it's quite warm here in the summer, it's the best time for storms to form, but that doesn't mean thunderstorms can form during any other time of year." Blue explained. "Come on, we better get home." Suddenly, it begun to rain and another crack of thunder rumbled through the park. Firestorm still wrapped himself in Blue's wing.

"Are we going to be flying?" Firestorm asked.

"No, Firestorm. It's too dangerous to fly right now. Only weather ponies fly around right now." Blue said. As the two siblings walked out of the park through the heavy rain, Firestorm stopped suddenly.

"What's going on, Firestorm?" Blue asked. Firestorm pointed towards a colt, who looked at least two or three years older than Firestorm is. This colt had a hoofball in between his hooves and eyed Blue and Firestorm closely.

"Who's he?" Blue asked.

"He's Warmwind, and he's a... a bully... who frequently bullies the younger kids, including me." Firestorm explained.

"He bullies you?" Blue asked.

"Yep." Firestorm replied.

"Have you told mom or dad?" Blue asked.

"No, not yet... it only begun a few days back." Firestorm said.

"Oh, you better tell them then." Blue replied.

"Hey, Firestorm!" Warmwind said. "Why are you here?"

"I'm here to... uh... I was learning how to fly." Firestorm explained. The bully started to chuckle.

"You still don't know how to fly?" he asked, laughing. "You sure you're not an Earth pony or an unicorn?" Embarrassed, Firestorm hid behind Blue.

"Hey kid, leave him alone!" Blue shouted to Warmwind. "What did Firestorm ever do to you?"

"Uh, who are you supposed to be?" Warmwind shouted through the pouring rain.

"I'm his brother, Warmwind. Now, I'd suggest you leave him alone before I explain everything to your mommy and daddy." Blue said, with a firm voice. Warmwind noticeably calmed down and begun to back away.

"But... he can't fly... and plus, he's a nerd!" Warmwind yelled.

"That's exactly what I was trying to help him with. Learning to fly. And so what if he's a nerd? That makes him far more intelligent than you on a lot of levels... So, I'd suggest you leave us alone and go back home. Alright?" Blue said.

"But-but-" Warmwind tried to prove his point, but was stopped by Blue.

"Go home or I'm telling your mother. Alright?" Blue asked.

"It's a deal." Warmwind said and trotted back towards his home, leaving only Blue and Firestorm.

"Is he gone now?" Firestorm said, coming out of his hiding place.

"He sure is." Blue replied. "That knocked some sense into him."

"Will he bother me again?" Firestorm asked.

"We'll see about that... for now, he's worried about his parents finding out." Blue replied.

"Thanks for sticking up for me like that... and sorry for being so rude to you and forcing you to teach me how to fly..." Firestorm replied. "I was just afraid of him..."

"You're welcome, little bro. And it's alright. I was going to teach you how to fly anyways, remember? It was just way too hot to fly back then." Blue said. "And don't be afraid of bullies like him. The best way to get rid of his type is to tell a trusted adult."

"Thanks, big bro." Firestorm said and hugged him.

"You're welcome... and come on, we better go home." Blue said.

"I agree..." Firestorm said. "Are you up for a race?"

"Oh, you're asking for it." Blue replied, with a sly grin forming on his face.

"Three, two, one, go!" Firestorm said and both siblings trotted off towards home. As they trotted through the rain, Blue flew up and wrapped his wing around Firestorm.

"Woah!" Firestorm shouted with glee as Blue flew him to the house. About a few minutes later, the two pegasi landed in front of the house and walked into it.

"So, what did you think of my flying, Blue?" Firestorm asked Blue, who was busy pouring in some water for both of them in the kitchen.

"I think you did quite good. I was impressed by your skills, little bro." Blue replied. "So, do you want dad to sign you up for Wonderbolts' Academy?"

"No, big bro. I still think being a royal guard sounds great." Firestorm replied.

"Alright..." Blue said. "Water?"

"Sure." Firestorm replied and took the glass off him. After playing a few more games, the siblings were eventually tired out and lay on each of the two sofas in the living room. At about 7PM, the sky over Cloudsdale cleared up and about two hours later, Summer and Lightning arrived back home.

"Hey guys!" Summer said. Blue shot up and went into the hallway to greet them.

"Hey mom, dad. How was your trip in Canterlot?" Blue asked.

"It was great..." Summer replied. "Canterlot is amazing..."

"I agree." Lightning said. "Oh, and we also decided on where we should go for summer this year."

"Where?" Blue asked.

"Los Pegasus... You and Firestorm always wanted to go there, son." Summer said. "So, why not?"

"Thanks mom, dad!" Blue said and hugged them both.

"You're welcome son. And how was your day with Firestorm?" Summer asked.

"It was better than I thought it'd be." Blue said.

"Really?" Lightning asked. "So, he wasn't causing you any trouble?"

"Not necessarily. In fact, it was actually quite fun." Blue explained.

"Where is he anyways?" Summer asked.

"He's in the living room, taking a nap." Blue replied.

"Sounds like you guys were having quite a fun day." Lightning said.

"Yep. I tried to teach Firestorm how to fly, and so far... he's doing good." Blue explained.

"Really? That's great, son!" Summer said.

"Yep... After that little injury I had, I never expected Firestorm to learn how to fly... but he's learning now, all thanks to you son." Lightning explained.

"Aww... Dad. It's nothing." Blue said.

"We're proud of you son... You've turned out to be quite a good big brother from what I can tell." Summer said, giving him a hug. Blue turned to face Firestorm, who was fast asleep on the sofa and smiled at him. After eating his supper and saying goodnight to Firestorm, Summer and Lightning, Blue went to his room and opened up his diary.

_"Dear diary, _

_Today, while my mom and dad were away in Canterlot for their twentieth wedding anniversary, I stayed at home to look after my little brother, Firestorm. Since me and Firestorm don't usually get along too good, I expected that foalsitting him would be quite hard, but it was actually more fun than I thought it'd be. Also, I found out what it truly means to be a big brother, and it's not just about having fun with a younger sibling, it's about being there for him or her. I hope I can be a good big brother for Firestorm, whenever he needs me._

_~ Blue Skye."_


End file.
